Paladin
by plannedbyReaperLight
Summary: AU. Something or someone out there is interfering with Light's plans. With L closing in and unknown enemies around every corner can Light succeed in building his imagined utopia without becoming a monster?  Being rewritten.
1. Disappointment

**A/N:** _I was just extremely bored… so I dropped this fanfiction. Do with it what you will._

_Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, Shonen Jump, Viz Media. Song lyrics belong to respective groups and musicians listed._

_"I own the blackest, most brutal of all things… absolutely NOTHING!" (not even this quote)._

_Story written purely for entertainment and educational purposes and not for profit._

_Warnings for… First Death Note fic (it's an AU but still trying to keep everyone as IC as possible), swearing, gore, sexual activities, implied rape, crack, fucked up timeline, (did I mention swearing), shameless Draco-in-leather-pants-ing, character death (what fandom do you think this is?), implied slash, implied het, and author-favoritism. In my AU Light is a superhero (…though a real dick of a hero, (circa 1990)). If you do not like Light, this is not the fic for you. Also included are some characters from the non-canon spin-offs. (OCs will be rare and non-irritating, I promise.)_

Recommended Soundtrack: Leave It Alone by Disturbed

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**Chapter 1 Disappointment**

It was a relatively quiet afternoon at the Shinjuku subway system, the crowd was bustling but not packed with people and if any of them noticed the young man slouched against the wall and apparently talking to himself, none of them paid him any mind (except perhaps to walk faster).

"**This place is crawling with humans. Are you gonna do it here?"**

"Yeah, you're about to see the result of all the research and experiments I've been conducting. I've been testing the Death Note on known criminals around this part of town and I've learned a lot about the Death Note... For instance if I write down the time and conditions I can add a name afterwards and it will still happen.

"**Ooh, even I didn't know that one."**

Light continued his vigil, waiting for the arrival of a certain FBI agent.

He checked his watch…

And waited…

_It's time…_

And waited…

_He should be here by now…_

Ryuk watched as Light scanning the crowd again…

**_He seems worried. This is a first. Kukuku._**

"…Shit."

"**Something wrong?"**

Light ignored Ryuk, and gracefully removed himself from his lurking place (no sense sticking around, something had gone wrong, he'd been stood up, a first in any case…) and began to stroll on home, composed as always… (that his bangs fell over his face concealing the obvious psychotic anger helped too…)

It should have worked. His experiments had demonstrated that he could control the victims conditions of death to this degree. _It should have worked!_ He had bet it all on this plan working. But it hadn't… that meant he was in deep shit.

_Calm. Stay Calm._

"**Light-o, Oi, Light-o!"**

Ryuk was bursting to know what was going on, but after receiving only a red-tinged glare for all his pestering efforts, decided it would be best not to push his only supplier of apples too hard when he was having one of his moods. At times, his human could be utterly terrifying… (to Ryuk it was adorably hilarious—like watching a kitten that's under the impression that it's King of the Jungle. Even so, Light would make a better Death God then the losers he usually hung out with.) Still he continued to hover too close as Light rigidly made his way home. Once there Light placed his shoes in the hall closet, ignored his little sister, trudged up the stairs, softly shut the door, clicked the lock shut… and proceeded to have a hissy fit.

"DAMMIT!"

"**Oi, Light-o. What happened?"**

Light had to calm himself down again before going over to his desk. He gently and carefully removed the notebook from its hiding place… and then furiously slammed it down on his desk.

"**Woah, careful! You want to blow up your room?"**

Silently, he flipped the notebook open to the appropriate page, showing how he would have controlled Raye, and used him to kill all the other agents in Japan. Ryuk was impressed, despite himself, at the level of detail in the instructions.

"**Yes, that would have been funny to watch,"** Ryuk began, slightly mocking, slightly disappointed,

**"Too bad it didn't work."**

"It. SHOULD. HAVE. WORKED!" Light ground out.

"**But even if he didn't do what you wrote in the book, he would have died anyway, right? So what's the big deal?"**

"What's the big deal, Ryuk? The big deal is that only Raye died! Out of all of the investigators… and it would be of a heart attack. It le's them zero in on the people who Raye was investigating, namely me. It's like I just announced to everyone that I AM KIRA!"

"**Speaking of which, Light, I don't mean to tell you you're business, but you might want to keep it down, or your sister might hear. Kukukuku." **It's not that Ryuk cared, not in the slightest… it's just that while Light's nervous breakdown had been funny at first, it was beginning to get grating, and besides the sooner Light got over this, the sooner they could be playing Mario Kart.

"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!"

Let's just say that lessons in humility do not mix well with a God Complex and that Kira's judgments were much more severe that night...

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"Raye Penber-san hasn't reported in for the last three days?" The shadowed figure asked into the webcam.

"No, sir. It would seem both he and his fiancée have gone missing."

_Did Kira manage to find them? _That means Kira took his bait… but if so, it was dreadfully disappointing that Kira would make such a rudimentary mistake. Plus, it didn't really match his profile, which deeply troubled L. It would have made more sense for Kira to try and find the identities of all the agents before making a move like this. Perhaps Kira wasn't as smart as he thought… (which was utterly unacceptable not to mention impossible because it meant his profile was completely off base. He knew… HE KNEW who it was. The only one it could be. He just didn't have the proof, and truth be told he was enjoying the game of unraveling the puzzle that was Light Yagami. He was the only one it really _could_ be. The only one living in the Kanto region of Japan that so perfectly matched his carefully constructed profile, indeed one of the few people in the world outside Wammy's House smart enough to pull something like this off. The personnel file was balanced awkwardly in L's lap as he gazed at Light's picture. Only 17 years old the number one student in the country, popular, handsome, intelligent…. (L put the file aside) and Kira, the worst Mass Murderer in history, as well if the recent report was to be believed the one behind the deaths of one of his agents Raye Penber and Naomi Misora, a formerly valued shield. However, if it was the work of Kira as the FBI had presumed it was odd that they hadn't found their bodies yet. According to the report Watari had sent him there was no sign of a struggle at their house… Well whether this was the work of Kira or not, wasn't truly relevant to the current case. He had other issues to contend with such as the fact that the FBI had leaked Raye's disappearance and the circumstances surrounding it to the NPA and the local police. Meaning he had to contend with their mistrust. It was expected and honestly he was counting on it in order to make his next move. Plus this current situation did give him the excuse he needed to zero in on his subject. L felt it was high time that he introduced himself...

L absently watched the officers that chose to remain, reflected in the glass of the hotel's window. They were currently bickering over the busy work he had given them. They were all idiots compared to him and seemingly lacking in common sense as well, but really, L was expecting that by now… Chief Souichiro Yagami (his main suspect's father the main obstacle in bringing up his current theory) sat opposite Shuichi Aizawa and Hirozaku Ukita, Kanzo Mogi was off to one side working efficiently by himself, and Miyuki Sanami was busy doing both her work and Touta Matsuda's as Matsuda became distracted by something shiny.

"Everyone," L addressed the assembled taskforce "I want to focus our investigation on only the people that Raye Penber was tailing…"


	2. Zombie

**A/N: **_Warning: Gore and torture ahead._

_Recommended Soundtrack: Die, Die My Darling by the Misfits (Metallica cover) _

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**Chapter 2 Zombie**

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

That sound encompassed the whole of reality. Slowly the world began to return though the dark of unconsciousness had just been replaced by the absence of light. There was a leak somewhere, hitting the concrete floor (which was funny because there wasn't any concrete in their hotel room…) the muscles in her neck screamed in agony from sleeping at an odd angle (which was again odd… because she didn't remember going to sleep either. The last thing she remembered was serving Raye the tea. That's right his bus had been high-jacked that morning (that couldn't have been a coincidence, something like that happening when trailing a Kira suspect, and…) why couldn't she move? _Oh, that's because I'm strapped to the chair... This isn't good._

Now that annoying drip was accompanied by an unfortunately familiar sound, one that brought with it some rather negative associations for Naomi Misora… the pop of a jam jar being opened.

"Wakey, wakey…" Scraping against the glass walls of the jar, followed by disgusting slurping noises… "…shake and bakey."

Her captor spider-walked into view in that odd crouching lope of his, confirming her fears. In an odd _non sequitor_ Naomi realized he didn't _look_ at all menacing, crawling around on the floor like a toddler, face covered in jam… Even with that horrible new burn scar that ran down the right half of his face (you don't set yourself on fire without there being some repercussions) but Naomi knew better.

"R-Ryuuzaki!"

'Ryuuzaki' got off the floor and moved in, uncomfortably close, breathing the putrid smell of rotting jam into her face.

"Surprised?" He whispered. He was only an inch away now.

"No, they said you were dead!"

(Drip. Drip.)

'Ryuuzaki' grinned, it was a smile that held no happiness, and showed only teeth.

"Reports of my death were greatly exaggerated…" he turned and whispered in her ear "Would you like to know?"

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**Earlier**

"…the subject is reported to have just collapsed in his cell?" asked the young blonde coroner's assistant.

"Yeah, another one, huh…"

_Oh, how ironic. I know that voice. It was the prison guard that found me._

"The Preliminary Cause of Death is believed to be cardiac arrest but we'll only but we'll only know for sure upon autopsy…" said the coroner.

"So let's get started shall we?"

_That girl is waaay too excited about cutting things up, and people call ME crazy._

"Right, I'll leave you guys to it," the metal door slammed shut with an air of finality as the prison guard left the morgue.

As the coroner began the cut, blood began to flow out of the "corpse…"

"Say," asked his assistant "what kind of name is Beyond Birthday, anyway?"

…meaning that the man before them was still alive…

"What the— get an EMT in here now!"

The "body's" eyes snapped open, revealing gleaming red eyes. In a lightning flash he was up in a spider-like crouch on the edge of the autopsy table and the coroner was looking up at him from the floor.

"Doctor Brian Bolivar, huh? Heh, how interesting, it must have been fate for us to meet like this… There's something I think you should know…" he leaned in and in a kindly voice he whispered "your number's up."

It was just then that Doctor Bolivar noticed that the scalpel was no longer in his hand… it was now in Beyond's...

Blood. GLORIOUS BLOOD! As Beyond made a swift cut across the jugular, it splattered Beyond's nude form, the surrounding walls, and across the face of Bolivar's assistant...

"…Ashley?" Beyond grinned as the assistant trembled. "Ashley Anderson. An A. I knew an A Once. Do you want to know about the last person I knew with that name? Probably not, it's a long story and a very sad one. There's no happy ending here, I'm afraid. Not for you, or for her, or for me…" a frightened moan escaped the girl's throat as Beyond played with her hair. "Shh, shh, shhh. No, Ashley. You do not die today. The numbers say you don't… The numbers. I see them. They're everywhere, above everyone's head BLEEDING." Beyond's eyes went vacant and he seemed to be staring into space, staring up above Ashley's head. "They are red, the numbers. Like blood. Life trickling away. And I can't… can't' stop it… Make it stop. _PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!_"

It was then that Ashley regained her senses. She kneed him in the crotch and made a mad dash for the door. When she was within reach of it, she was suddenly pushed forward into it from behind, her skull ringing against the steel. Ashley screamed in frustrated terror.

"Quit your bawling. I told, you, you don't die today, didn't I? And here you take advantage of my generosity. Now this is a bit of a dilemma. I can't let you go telling, now can I? I want to throw a surprise party for my Special Someone and I can't have _you_ ruining it. Hmmm… I know!" He declared cheerily...

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"…and then I sawed out her tongue. It took awhile. Not sure why. Then her screaming got annoying so I ripped out her voice box. She's still alive, by the way, just as promised. Unlike some people I know, I _keep_ my promises. The guard outside didn't stand a chance either, but you're smart. You probably figured that out already too, huh?"

Naomi just stared, open-mouthed and wide-eyed as Beyond continued to relate the exploits of his most recent killings as if talking about the weather. An awkward silence followed, save for the ever-present background drip.

"Oh, but you probably want to know how I got out of my cell and into the morgue in the first place, right? It's actually a funny story, you see... They honored my request for my last meal… Fugu as catered by Samurai Sushi a group of inexperienced Western sushi chefs. As you know Fugu also known as blowfish is at best mildly poisonous containing tetrodotoxin and if inadequately prepared can kill the person consuming it or in the right dosages can render the one who consumes it in a state that resembles death. It's also the main ingredient in a voodoo ritual used to create "zombies." It was a little rocky there, I wasn't sure if I had the right dosage, luckily I AM a genius. After consuming the tetrodotoxin, it was a simple matter of clutching my chest and screaming 'DAMN YOU KIRA!' at the right moment, then I collapsed and that was the end of it. They shipped my "body" to the morgue where I woke up after recovering from the poisoning. Besides my playtime with the coroners and the guards I managed to cleanly make my escape. I doubt that news of my escape has spread yet. The authorities don't like to look like they're losing control. Though I imagine they tried to contact L. Too bad, knowing him he's throwing his all into the Kira case. Heh heh heh."

"Wh-what exactly did you mean by a surprise party," Naomi forced her voice to remain level.

"Hmm? Yes. I suppose you're right. Enough about me," Beyond began, leaning back against Naomi's chair, absently twirling the knife in one hand. "Let's talk about you. Naomi Misora. You know, this isn't really about you. It's about L. (It's always about L, isn't it?) Yes, it's about L. And Kira. And You. And Me. This WAS just about L and me. But then you had to go and interfere the way you did. Don't think I've forgotten… WHAT. YOU. DID. TO. ME." (With each word Beyond broke a finger on her left hand).

"AAAAAAAAAAGHH! You… you mean stopping you from burning to death?" Naomi spat, "Is that what this is all about? Be my guest and do it again, I won't try and stop you this time." _Oh, great job, Naomi. Antagonize the knife-wielding madman._

Beyond slumped next to her chair again. "You. You. You. You. You have no idea. What it's like. I know. I've been trained to know. It's L. (L. L. L) And Wammy. It's their fault. ALL THEIR FAULT. They trained me to know. To see the patterns. And I see it… _see it_. If only I could be L, not Backup, but L. I wouldn't _have _to see it. He doesn't see it. He doesn't. I do. I see it." He desperately grabbed at Naomi's hand. "I see it all. See it all dying. _IT WAS SUPPOSED TO END THAT DAY!_" He screamed in her face and then stormed away, Naomi could only hear the drip and the heaviness of Beyond's breathing.

"Anyway," Beyond began calmly again as if he had never had an outburst, "you always were so interested in the B.B. case… Now you get to see first-hand! Kyahahahaha! Isn't it exciting! Oh no… not you. Don't worry… it will be your turn later. Right now I'm working on my current subject—I believe you know him quite well…"

Naomi winced as Beyond pulled something from his pocket. At first she was relieved as it was just a remote. Then… BLIP, and a spotlight illuminated the dark room.

It took a moment for Naomi to place the context. The figure was vaguely human but with so many pieces missing, it took her far too long to recognize his identity... "Oh my god! RAYE!"

That dripping! This whole time! It was Raye, slowly bleeding to death.

"I'm sorry he can't talk to you at the moment (seeing as I've already removed those necessary pieces.) He can still see and hear you though. As you can see, I've already been working on him a bit, but I saved the best for last. I wouldn't want to deprive you of seeing each other, now would I? After all, I'm not completely heartless."

Smiling kindly, Beyond brought the scalpel down to saw what was left of Raye away, while humming a merry tune—Naomi soon recognized it was "Santa Claus is coming to Town." Naomi could see that Raye's features were contorted into a silent scream…When suddenly Raye began making gurgling noises and began to spasm in the chair.

"That's enough of that!" Beyond growled and struck Raye across the face.

In a last moment of lucidity, Raye looked right at her, silently called her name and fell back limply in the chair, head lolling to one side. It was then that Beyond observed the red halo of Raye's name and lifespan—snuffed out.

"No. No. NO! NOT FAIR! I WASN'T FINISHED!" Beyond roared, shaking the lifeless corpse.

While holding his tantrum he plunged his fingers in and with a wet pop, removed Raye's eyes from their sockets, no longer caring if they were damaged or souvenir worthy and threw them at Naomi.

_Was that… a heart attack? Did I misjudge the dosage? No. The numbers! He wasn't supposed to die yet. He died before the numbers ran out… and it was a heart attack. There can be no doubt about it. It must have been Kira… now THAT'S interesting. I can find Kira first, before L!_

Beyond's face split wide into a mad, mad grin. "Kya ha. Ha. HA. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

This was his chance, finally! He would no longer be Backup. He would BE L! But he would have to move fast if he wanted to find Kira first.

"Raye! RAYE!" Naomi screamed. Beyond glanced over to see that she was straining against the bonds way too much for his liking… and so she injected her with another dose of sedative.

"We'll play later," he said while slashing small cuts across her face "I promise you." The last thing Naomi saw before losing consciousness was Beyond licking at the weeping wounds.


	3. Parasites

**A/N:** _Don't think Death Note ever had a Comedy Hour… so no, I still don't own Death Note._

_In this chapter, these are all canon characters, though many have ridiculously minor roles in-series._

Recommended Soundtrack: _Every Breath You Take_ by The Police

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**Chapter 3 Parasites**

**"PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF… LIGHT GIVE ME AN APPLE!"**

_Damn L._ _If not for him, I wouldn't have to put up with—_

**"AAAAAAAAPPLLESS!"**

Light ignored Ryuk and flopped down on his bed, casually glaring at where he knew one the cameras to be as he began to study his textbook on Legal Precedents. Eventually Ryuk wore himself out and went to mope in a corner and Light could get some actual studying done (Not that he really needed to, he already knew this stuff backwards).

_Heh? Enjoying the show L? This is torture for me, and I'm USED to it... It's funny to imagine some loser sitting out there watching this. Yes. Light Yagami's Study Hour. Damn good television._

"Light, dinner's ready!" Sayu called up the stairs.

**"Ooh, Is it apples?"**

_What do you think, Ryuk._

**"Stupid L. Stupid cameras. Stupid Light not talking to me... Yeah, yeah… I'll just stay here and look for more cameras. I've already found six."**

_Wouldn't six really be enough?_

Downstairs, Sayu was, as per usual, squeeing over teen idol Hideki Ryuga.

"Geez, Sayu, watch the news for once."

"Not when Hideki's on, no way! He's gorgeous! Why don't you like anybody?"

_Thank you, Sayu. If the news was on right now, my whole plan would go down the drain._

As they ate dinner, more amusement was forthcoming for Light upon seeing L's obviously fake announcement. He was still inwardly laughing at L's stupid trick as he excused himself from the table.

"What, you're eating a bag of chips right after dinner? You pig."

_Ouch. Sayu._

"It's a late-night snack for studying," Light sighed exasperated. Yet, despite the teasing, and the fact that some vigilante without any recourse to the law that casually sacrificed human lives and let others die in his place (_hypocrisy? I have no idea what you're talking about…_) had installed 64 cameras in his room and that these were the worst tasting chips on the planet, Light was in a really good mood. Why shouldn't he be, after all he was eliminating the scum of the earth right under the nose of the "World's Greatest Detective." Yes. Every chip was eaten for the sake of Justice (and Justice tasted like barbequed lard crisps).

_Note to Self: After establishing the New World, first decree (well maybe not the first but definitely A decree) on this day, January 8th it will now and forever be World Potato Chip Day! Yes._

Light leaned back in his chair, perfectly relaxed as he got into his favorite fantasy of Already-Lording-Over-the-Whole-Planet. In his daydream he got the cool flowing robes, maybe a nice shiny crown or something and he was overlooking and addressing a crowd of millions of cheering people. KIRA-SAMA! KIRA-SAMA! KIA-SAMA!

Old guys with suits would come before him to offer their allegiance and gratitude for all that he's done for the world.

"_Hey, world leaders, how you doing? Guess what? You all work for me now. What' sup Australia? Why thank you for ceding your territories to me, very generous of you."_

"_War and crime no longer exist," one of the gentlemen in the suits began "and the world is at peace! We from the U.N. and assembled nations would like to thank you Kira, for doing the job which we so obviously couldn't because we suck and you rock. Thank you Kira! The world is a safer place because of you!"_

_Some adoring fans would then rush the stage crying "Kira-sama" and "I am not worthy." And "My son wants to grow up to be just like you!" and "Kira, have my babies!" (Ewww... maybe not that one). Then an assassin somehow makes it through, but that's okay because Light grabs the gun right out of his hand and then takes him down like a ninja. The cheering crowd gets even louder and Light begins his acceptance speech for his position as God-Emperor of Planet Earth._

"_Yes, I would like to thank my family for all their moral support, the Shinigami Ryuk for making this all possible, and L for providing hours of free entertainment…" wait. Woah! Did I really just think that? That I'm GRATEFUL to L for getting in the way of my goals and trying to put me to death? Hmm… one of these days perhaps a visit to a completely loyal and trustworthy psychologist is in order… after I become God of course._

As Light came out of his daydream he discovered he had developed a not so little problem, and with the cameras watching him, too. How embarrassing. No wait, this was perfect. It would help authenticate his cover. Light uncovered one of his girlie mags from their hiding place and headed for the bathroom.

_Yes, enjoy the show, L._

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L smelled rather than saw Mr. Yagami return from his smoke break, as he was glued to the TV screens.

"Ryuuzaki?"

"Hmm?"

"Is it really necessary to stare at the screen so closely…"

"I don't want to miss anything."

"… when my son is showering?"

In a briefly panicked moment L worried that Mr. Yagami was going to accuse him of something… "As I told you, out of all our current suspects, Light is the most suspicious. In fact, with your permission, I would like to have Mogi start following him. He sure does go out a lot a night."

"He's very popular," the father of his suspect explained.

L muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "I can see why."

Mr. Yagami gaped at L, and for a moment, "Ryuuzaki…" The tone was dangerous enough that L actually looked away from the screen. For a moment it seemed Souichiro wanted to have words with him… "…You'll ruin your eyesight, doing that." …but the moment passed.

L managed to NOT audibly sigh in relief and just glance blandly at Mr. Yagami.

"Of course, Yagami-san. Thank you for your concern."

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Meanwhile in that gray and desolate world known as the Shinigami Realm one of the Death Gods has awakened from his eons-long… nap. Hoisting his bone-scythe over his shoulder with his good hand, Zellogi trudged along looking for the rest of the guys… well first he saw Gelus and Rem staring solemnly into one of the viewing pools.

Zellogi sighed. _Those two… so boring._ What kind of Shinigami cares about humans? (A short-lived one, that's for sure.) But then he noticed it wasn't just Gelus and Rem. Deridovely, Calikarcha and several other shinigami he didn't know were sitting around a viewing pool too, occasionally breaking into fits of laughter.

Deridovely was lounging there, in front of the pool, a bowl full of mini-skulls in his lap. At regular intervals he would shovel claw-fuls of skulls past his fat lips.

"**Oh man,"** he mumbled around his munching "**Ryuk has really outdone himself this time!" **

_Ryuk? _Zellogi hadn't seen Ryuk yet, and he was usually doing something to get in trouble _could it be_… _Is he down there? _

Any attempt at talking to Deridovely and the others was greeted with "Shushes." Zellogi huffed and continued on until he found Gukku with the ladies (lucky bastard) the refined Daril Ghiroza and that firecracker Kinddara Guivelostain, currently engaged in a riveting game of cards. Tired of being ignored, Zellogi let out a loud and obnoxious yawn to announce his presence.

"**It seems a lot of Shinigami are observing the human world lately, what's with that, anyway?"**

"**Ryuk is being kept by a human!"** Snickered Gukku.

_So it was true…_ "**Huh? What's he thinking, seriously?"**

"**He's a disgrace to the pride of the Shinigami,"** sniffed Kinddara. Zellogi couldn't help but ogle a bit at her pretty stitches and exposed under-flesh but he knew better than to touch… The last time he tried, he lost his left hand.

"**No I mean, who would want to keep HIM as a pet, aren't pets supposed to be cute?"** they all burst a gut laughing at that.

Indeed, Gukku laughed so hard he nearly impaled himself in the back with his swept-back horns,  
which caused the others to laugh even more. **"Hahaha, when you're right you're right"** Gukku said.

"**What's the story on this human anyway? Is it a male or a female?"**

"**Who knows,"** replied Daril, her plate-mail jingling as she threw a card onto the ground. **"But you know? If Ryuk knows what's good for him; he'll stay a human's pet."**

"**Huh?"** Now this was interesting. Daril was a high ranking Shinigami and occasionally knew things, and let everyone else know she knew things. She's the best supplier of gossip in the Shinigami world. Zellogi was all ears.

"**Well I'm just saying,"** Daril began, absently running a claw through her long white hair** "that if I were him, I'd stay down there... Haven't you heard? The King found out about that one time…"**

"…**which one?"**

"**The last time he was down there. I heard he broke Rule 36." **

"…**I didn't think that was possible." **

"**its not supposed to _be_ possible. At any rate the King is well royally pissed, but he can't do anything to Ryuk until his human kicks it, but as soon as he does…."**

"**Woah… those humans, they don't live too long, do they? Especially when they become an Owner. Sucks to be him." **

"**Indeed." **

That Zellogi had swiped Kindarra's Death Note while they were talking went unnoticed by all, as they were all so engrossed in their game. (Violent as she was, Kindarra was not too bright. Unlike the others, it would probably be centuries before she noticed it was even missing, he could have it back to her before then, and she would be none the wiser.)

"**I guess I'd better go down and take a closer look."**

"**Whoo boy,"** Daril laughed happy to have something else to gossip about.

As Zellogi approached the viewing pools he considered the pros and cons of getting involved.

Pro – as dull as it would be to follow a human around until they died it was probably more exciting than sitting around gambling or counting dust motes.

Con- he didn't want to end up some human's pet like Ryuk.

Pro- Sitting back and letting some human do all the work was smart, really.

Con- Doing this would obviously not score him any points with Kinddara who found this kind of behavior beneath a proper Death God.

Pro- _But he_ wasn't about to become a laughing stock like Ryuk. When he went down there, the human would show proper respect to a Death God, thank you very much.

Pro- it looked like it could be fun and he was bored out of his skull.

Pro- it would be funny to see the look on Ryuk's face when he learned he was completely and utterly screwed.

Con- On the other hand, it meant actually doing something, and that patch of dust looked mighty tempting to sleep on.

Zellogi managed to make it back to the viewing pool where Deirdovely and the others were watching the soap opera Ryuk had instigated. Yep, it was official; Ryuk was some human's pet, eating apples right out of his hand. Heh. Apples. Of course that would be why he decided to stick around with some boring human… Zellogi watched a little longer and made a discovery that tipped the scales into deciding to go through with it…

Ryuk was lounging. On a BED. A soft, soft bed… with pillows… And _BLANKETS!_

Yes, Zellogi could definitely see the appeal now. Room, board, and entertainment.

Zellogi liked soft things and there aren't many soft things in the Shinigami world. Mostly bones and chains, spikes, debris… dust is about as soft as it comes.

Ultimately pride wasn't too much to ask when it came to getting what you want.

It was decided then. Zellogi would play too. He unfurled his skeletal wings and began his decent into the human world…

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"**Does this mean that it's begun?"** asked one who had been observing the scene, a Shinigami who was composed mostly of eyes.

"**NO**," came a voice from the Nothing (that if heard by human ears would likely make that human's brain explode) "**NOT YET. BUT SOON. VERY SOON.**"

00000

_Come on! Get moving you idiot!_ _You do NOT stop. If you stop, he gets L and he wins. If he wins, then what he did to Raye... What he did to **me**… God! _

She had to hurry. She had to warn L that Beyond had returned. _It's probably too late._ Beyond must have found… There was no other reason for him to rush out like that. Or perhaps he had just underestimated her again. Naomi had to break her own wrist getting out of those restraints, but it was better than (more of) the alternative...

The police station was in sight. _Come on! _She screamed at herself in frustration as her vision began to swim around the edges. _Forget the fact that EVERYTHING hurts, and that your stitches have opened up again, and that you're probably dying right now. Use that fence for support and keep moving. First L, then hospital._ She staggered along. Just a little further…

She turned the corner and crashed right into a (handsome young) man returning from the station. That was it, the End. She could go no further. She saw black spots and the world was fading fast. The only thing keeping her up was that the stranger had caught her before she could fall.

From a million miles away she could hear him asking "Hey… are you okay?" (_Do I look okay, you idiot?_) Followed by "…Oh my God!" She was probably bleeding onto his nice white overcoat. It would be hell to get those stains out. For a moment she was sure he would leave her there, too concerned with his own busy schedule. _Sorry for bleeding on you, Mr. Stranger, I'll just be on my way._

Oh, he's already calling somebody on his cell phone. Maybe he's not such an idiot after all.

"Help me…" her voice came out as barely a whisper. _Pathetic. _She grumbled to herself as she lost consciousness.


	4. Blood

**A/N:** Nope, still don't own _Death Note._

Recommended Soundtrack: _Lonely Day_ by System of a Down

00000

**Chapter 4 Blood**

As he waited for the ambulance tending to the wounds of an unconscious stranger, Light reflected that this was overall, shaping up to be the strangest day of his life. Yes, even beating out the day he found a killer notebook in the school yard, or the first time Ryuk appeared in his bedroom, or even that one time with Sayu and the fish. Now, from the look of things, it was just getting weirder. First there was the weird boy…man… man-child (really weird, like someone-you're-likely-to-come-across-when-riding-the-subway-and-quickly-move-to-the-other-end-of-the-car weird) sometimes calling himself Hideki Ryuga sometimes just "Ryuuzaki" and claiming to be the Great Detective L that just showed up at school and started following him around. Annoying if true (If not, then he had likely just attracted the attention of yet another stalker, joy) because then it's another obvious trap… (And what did Hideki Ryuga ever do to "Ryuuzaki"? Besides the fact that it was an obvious trap, Light knew he would never dare to even try to write that name… his sister would be devastated.)

They had chatted in the cafeteria where Light wondered if it was possible to get diabetes from just watching someone else eat as Ryuga / "Ryuuzaki"/ allegedly-L continued to talk around whatever sugared-strawberry-something he had shoved into his mouth.

Light had made a couple discoveries during that meeting. One, the man was childish, very irritating, and convinced that he was Kira. Two …that that was the longest and most intelligent conversation he had ever had with anyone in his life.

It all left Light very confused.

It was not a feeling that he was used to. It made him angry. Therefore, he jumped at the chance to run errands for his mother and sister. A walk would help him to cool off. He certainly didn't count on THIS happening.

Yes, quite an odd day.

… But even if it was the real L, Light had an ace in the hole and was confident that he could win...

00000

**That Morning… **

"**Oi, Light-o."**

Light turned, in the middle of buttoning his shirt. "Yes Ryuk, I know. We're going on an apple-run today."

"**Yeah, sure, whatever, there's something I need to talk to you about."**

_Wait Ryuk is indifferent about APPLES? Something was definitely up._ Ryuk had his attention.

"**How would you like to become more powerful?"**

Light sighed, exasperated. "You aren't pushing the Eye Deal at me _again,_ are you Ryuk? Don't waste my time. I'm NEVER going to take that deal."

**_Thank you, thank you, thank you… ahem. I mean yes, you'd best not, Light or I will make your remaining years a living hell, I assure you… _**

**"No, it's not that deal, it's another one. A better one… Hey! Don't give me that look, there's a lot of rules and stuff to remember! Not everyone can be as smart as you kid."**

Flattery gets you everywhere if you happen to be talking to one Light Yagami. Light plopped down into his office chair and with an imperious wave of his hand signaled that yes, Ryuk may continue talking. Ryuk did. Light's eyes narrowed. What's the catch?"

**"Nothing. It's free of charge. Honest. C'mon, Light. Isn't it everything you ever wanted?"**

"Yes," this made it suspicious. Why would Ryuk who had made it clear he wasn't on his side offer him a deal like this with seemingly no strings attached? So Light continued to ask about it, trying to find any loophole that could be abused. Anything he might have overlooked, or poke holes in Ryuk's offer until…

"**Just take the damn deal!"**

"…and why are you pushing this deal?"

"…**I'm not."**

"Are you concerned about me?" the boy glanced back faux flirtatiously over his shoulder as he crossed the room to get his coat. "I'm touched Ryuk, really."

Ryuk growled. "**Look, Light. You know I don't particularly care. I'm not on your side or L's side..."**

"…but it's apparent you need me for something…" Light supplied with a smug you're-going-to-owe-me-look.

**"…but if say, you died right now,"** Ryuk looked pointedly above Light's head...** "We'd never get to finish our game of Mario Kart."** (Yes, that sounded like a valid excuse.)

"That's right, you see…" _Am I going to die soon otherwise… is that why?_

Ryuk's grin widened. He knew he got him. Light, after all, was only human and ultimately didn't want to die. Especially considering what he'd told Light about Afterwards or the lack thereof…

**"Light, take the deal."**

Light breathed out slowly… "Okay. How do we do this?"

00000

**The Night Before… **

Ryuk was in a good mood because the cameras were gone so he could have apples in the house and play video games with Light again. Ryuk had won of course. It was fun even if Light was a sore loser.

Ryuk lazily floated in the corner, grinning down as he watched his human sleeping peacefully. **_Heh, even when he's sleeping... Light's so interesting. Most humans would have nightmares after ending so many lives. Heh. But not Light, at least not anymore..._**

"**HEY, RYUUKUU!" **shouted a certain rotting Shinigami in a feather headdress as he came diving in through the ceiling.

For a second, Ryuk was so startled he forgot how to defy gravity. The resulting thud elicited an elegant response from the sleeping Kira.

"Ngh. Whaz tha' Ryuk?"

**"Uh, nothing,"** Ryuk said, quickly. **"Nightmare. Go back to sleep."**

"M'kay."

Irritated, Ryuk gestured and then phased through the wall. Zellogi followed.

Clouds covered up the moon as Ryuk flew up to perch on the roof of the Yagami house. **"So, Zellogi… What are you doing here?"**

Zellogi plopped down next to him so they made a pair of invisible grotesques. **"Do I have to have a reason? Maybe I just missed seeing your ugly face."**

**"Hyuk. You're one to talk. No, seriously why are you here?"**

"**Why should YOU be the only one who gets to have fun in the human world? You didn't even bother to invite me, I'm hurt."**

"**Hey, YOU were busy napping! …Like you've been for the last two thousand years!"**

"**There's another thing though, I figured I should tell you… You screwed up, Ryuk. You screwed up big time."**

"**Huh?"**

"**The King found out about that one time."**

"**Which one?"**

"**If you have to ask…"**

"**No, seriously"** Ryuk grabbed Zellogi's furry sleeves, sounding panicked **"which one?"**

"**Rule 36."**

"**Oh FUCK!"**

"**Exactly."**

Ryuk visibly slumped. **"It's a good thing you chose to pull this little prank now. The King can't touch you while you're down here attached to a human. You're safe as long as he's alive and doesn't forfeit ownership."**

Ryuk brightened a bit. **"Ah, have you seen him? He thinks he's on a holy crusade. He'd NEVER do that."**

"**Then you're safe until he kicks it, then you go straight to Level 1 agony."**

There were few things in either world that could make a Shinigami tremble in fear… this was one of them.

"**Tell you what, since you're my pal and I don't want to see your sorry ass being sent off to Eternal Torment I'll give you a hint about how you can save yourself. (You didn't hear it from me though.) Of course you're going to owe me big for this..."**

Yes, either way this was going to cost him—that much was a given. **"Name it,"** Ryuk sighed, defeated. **"What do you want?"**

"**I want a blanket. Wool, preferably fuzzy. A blue one."**

**_Right, this is ZELLOGI, we're talking about… He might be smarter than me, but he's still got a one-track mind. That's easy enough… I can just whine until Light gets me one._**

"**All right, hyuk hyuk. You have yourself a deal."**

"**Alright, here's something I noticed that could save your life now, so listen up. You're lucky it's THIS human."**

"**Yeah, I know he's fun."**

"**No… you're REALLY LUCKY. Out of all the billions of humans out there in the world, you land on him. Anyone else and this WOULDN'T work and there really would be no hope and no saving you."**

"**Oh."**

"**It's ironic really, you're gonna be saved by your own screw up."**

"**Huh, how's that?**

"**Well, first of all you know that you have first rights to his name and no other Shinigami is allowed to touch him… But this is the King you've pissed off. He doesn't have to follow the rules. Normally, the King would have just killed your human and dragged your sorry ass back home to be punished. But because it's THIS human, you're safe."**

"**But why? I don't understand!"**

"**Look, do I have to spell it out for you?"**

"**Quit screwing around and tell me already!"**

"**I can't just tell you, I'm treading the line as it is! Figure it out! It's staring you right in the face! Didn't you notice his surname?"**

"**Yeah Kukuku, I did (though that only really works in English)."**

"**What?"** Zellogi sighed trying a different approach. **"Think Ryuk. Remember the last time you were here. A few thousand years ago."**

"…**yeah. Hey, wait a sec, Zellogi… you mean you _watched_ all that?"**

"**Hey, it's not like there was anything better to do. Anyway, do you remember what they called you?"**

"**Yeah, the Night God—OH!"** Ryuk slipped and fell off the roof. He barely managed to catch himself before hitting the ground a second time that night. **"Oh… Oh. Well…. Fuck. This is awkward… Wait you mean he's… Light's my…"**

Zellogi was massaging his forehead with his claws. **"Yes… Lucky he didn't get YOUR brains or your looks for that matter, though from watching the two of you I'd say he may have inherited your winning personality."**

00000

Zellogi looked on at the scene before him. He'd waited all day to find some human that he could use to continue hanging out with Ryuk. (He'd considered that messy-haired, tired-looking guy but Ryuk said it was a bad idea.)

**"Yeah, she'll do,"** and unceremoniously chucked his notebook at Naomi Misora. Light watched open mouthed as a Death Note came flying right at them, hitting Naomi first, rebounding off the pavement and smacked Light right in the face.

Light looked up to see two Shinigami roaring with laughter "Ryuk..." Light began rubbing at the bridge of his nose "if you knew about this, I will kill you… Yeah, I know and I don't care, I will find a way."

00000

**A/N:** Little known "fact," last time he played in the human world, Ryuk also spend time in a small New England town known as Innsmouth...


	5. Angels

**A/N:** _I do not own Death Note or any of its characters. (I would like to take Light home though.)_

_Recommended Soundtrack: Angels by Within Temptation_

00000

**Chapter 5 Angels**

_I could just kill her, and gain ownership. Yeah, that's the safest option. Step one find out her name._

"**Eh, whatcha doin'?" **Light ignored his invisible audience and after much searching, found her wallet in a hidden pocket within the lining of her jacket. A Japanese driver's license betrayed her name—Naomi Misora.

Light began to reach for his own wallet (or more specifically the Death Note scrap he kept hidden inside of it) when the complaining began…

"**Hyuk hyuk, yep, he's getting out his Death Note, told you so. You owe me two death-heads."**

"**What you're just going to kill her?"** Ah that was that newcomer Shinigami, the very reason this poor woman had to die. Seeing him, it made Ryuk look almost pleasing to the eye… because while Ryuk might resemble a beast or a monstrous clown at least he didn't look like a rotting corpse. He also seemed to have no problem watching Light's every move despite having sunken pits where his eyes should have been. He was quite unnerving…

"**BUT THAT'S SO BOOORING!"**

…not to mention annoying.

Light glowered at Ryuk and Zellogi. "What choice do I have?"

"**C'mon, Light remember that deal we made? You don't have to play it so safe anymore. Besides if you gain ownership, you'll have to put up with Zellogi's ugly face, not to mention his fur fetish. Let someone else carry that burden. Hyuk hyuk."**

"Hmm…" Light considered having Zellogi haunt him for the rest of his life and shivered. Still… "It's not worth the risk."

"**All you have to do is trick her into giving up ownership." **

Light continued to rummage around for his wallet.

"**CHIKEN! BUCK BUCK BUWAK!" **

"**Yeah that must be it. You think she's smarter than you or something?"**

"Hardly. Smart people don't walk into danger like that."

"**I bet you apples, double or nothing that she'd best you in a battle of wits. Or are you too scared?"**

That did it. Pride—Light's fatal flaw.

Light glowered at the Shinigami and then rubbed his chin in thought. "Hmm… I suppose I could trick her into giving up ownership" he said as if he had come up with the idea himself. "I already called the ambulance. If she dies now… that could come back to implicate me later... as for your bet… You're on."

…_And of course, killing her later is always an option..._

"**Yeah, that's the spirit!"** Zellogi laughed.

"So until then, Zellogi was it? You need to stay out of sight."

"**Technically, she's the owner right now. So I have to haunt her."**

"Is there a rule that states you have to haunt her NOW?"

"**Well, I have to appear before her sometime within the next 39 days…"**

"Then you have time, you WILL stay out of sight," Light ordered the Death God, "and when we get to the hospital, you WILL wait outside."

"**Heh. You're not the boss of me, human. Who the hell do you think you are? Treating Shinigami like this? Why the hell do you put up with this Ryuk?"**

Light continued to stroke his chin in thought and then added "Do this for me and I'll get you…"

"**A blue fuzzy wool blanket,"** Ryuk supplied helpfully.

"…Yeah, that."

"**Hey, you were supposed to get me that Ryuk!"**

"**I just did. You're welcome. Now shoo for a bit, and remember to wait outside,"** Ryuk replied sweetly.

Zellogi launched himself off the ground, as he began to fly away he called back over his shoulder, **"Hey Ryuk, you know what? This human… he's a BAD influence on you."**

"**Hyuk, hyuk, hyuk."**

"**I'M SERIOUS!"**

00000

"She's bleeding, pretty bad, I have to keep pressure here or she's going to bleed out..."

The ambulance was finally here, of course the EMTs tried to make him leave… "I'm sorry kid, only relatives are allowed…"

_I can't lose track of her… and _"Kid?" Light thought indignantly, than realized by the shocked looks he had indeed voiced his irritation, (using the same tone of voice he used to order Shinigami around) "I'm her…" Light noticed Naomi's mutilated fingers… and the diamond engagement ring … "fiancé."

_Yeah, Light, real smooth._

"My apologies, sir. Of course you can ride along."

While outwardly he continued to act concerned, in his mind, Light was smirking with glee. _Yeah, I'm good._

00000

Meanwhile, across the street Mogi had been observing these events (or rather saw Chief Yagami's son the good Samaritan stopping to help a victim of assault) and was trying to get in contact with Headquarters to give an update. On the fifth try the Chief finally picked up.

"What happened?"

"Mogi, you'd better get down here."

"But-but Chief! What about, I mean L… he said... How are we going to clear your family?"

"That can wait."

00000

As Light watched the EMTs work to save Naomi Misora's life. Light was stunned at the sheer amount of abuse this woman had gone through. Naomi had been tortured. Along with the long deep weeping wound on her back there were a series of smaller ones along her face and arms. She had been severely beaten, her ring finger had been sawed off and every other finger was broken on her left hand. Also her right wrist was fractured. Ligature marks and no defensive wounds—she had been unable to fight back.

Light needed to know who did this. He would not permit such evil to exist in His World.

It was a shame about her hands really. It would have added a nice dramatic touch to hold her hand like the concerned husband-to-be-role he now found himself playing. So he just hung back nervously and let the EMTs work.

Though, something felt out of place. Light soon realized what it was…

"Hey!" Light rose from his cramped seat and grabbed the nurse by the wrist."What are you doing, are you trying to kill her?"

The nurse glowered "Sir, get out of the way or get out of the car."

"Look at her blood pressure if you gave her that _now_, you'd send her into cardiac arrest!"

"Hey, he's right! What were you thinking Bukimi-san?"

The nurse hung her head in mock contrition "Sorry, sir. It won't happen again."

"It better not! That's the third time… keep this up and you can count yourself out of a job!"

_Oh that inspires confidence… and the third time!_ _There's no way this was just incompetence. _

The nurse was watching him now through striking golden eyes, predator's eyes (eyes that Light sometimes saw when he looked in the mirror).

_No, this was a malicious act. Damn is everyone else so blind? She's an "angel of death" you don't even have to be a genius like me to figure that one out… _

Light took care to check her badge (surname: Bukimi, first name: Rin) and remember her face… that name was going in the Death Note tonight. She would die of an accident in 23 days (no matter what Ryuk said, he wasn't going to throw caution to the wind just to alleviate his boredom) and she would cause no more harm to her patients in that time.

Speaking of the Death Note… how was he going to get Naomi to give up ownership without her ever realizing she had become an Owner in the first place? And he had to do it before she could discover Zellogi. He had to tread carefully. Even if he was successful in getting her to give up ownership there was no guarantee that the resulting memory wipe would erase everything that could possibly implicate him as Kira, as far as he could tell from questioning Ryuk it only erased knowledge of the notebook and of Shinigami.

_Let's start with the basics. Maybe I can think of something I can use… So what do you know about her? … Next to nothing. What can you infer… beside the obvious. She's either married or getting married soon (or at the very least has fine taste in jewelry.) She has enemies, she's just been through a horribly traumatic experience, she's athletic, she can take pain well (she may have had training in some form of martial arts… if so, it's fair to infer that her attacker probably knew her, or at the very least knew her habits enough to turn it to his advantage.) Also, she walked here from wherever she was being kept… She's strong. Her wardrobe choice, plus the wear and tear on the clothes suggests that she's a biker. She was headed for the police station instead of the hospital… so she's either stupid or doesn't value her own life. That suggests she's impulsive, desperate, or exceedingly loyal, or all of the above. However, her hiding her wallet like that… it suggests caution, and intelligence._

_She's… impressive._

00000

A subdued couple entered the hospital lobby "That must be him," murmured the raven-haired woman. "He looks younger than I suspected." They sat opposite the worried young man. It was true, Light _was_ worried (at the very least about the fact that Naomi was unknowingly in possession of the source of his power and thus could ruin him in so many ways and so quickly it wasn't even funny.) But his apparent concern did score him a few points.

The big man grunted and Light glanced up from his brooding. The man pro-offered his beefy hand, western-style. Light shook it and noted that he had a _very_ strong grip.

"You must be Mr. Raye Penber."

Light carefully schooled his features to avoid showing any of the rising panic he was feeling…

_What? What did they know about Raye Penber? For that matter, why did they think I'M Raye Penber? _

"Isamu Misora and this is my wife, Katsumi. Now what's this I hear about you wanting to marry my daughter?"

_Oh CRAP! _Looking over this bear of a man, the "God of the New World" was in a tight spot indeed…

But then the pieces all fell into place. _No wait. I can use this. Ha! This is my lucky day! _

Light didn't miss a beat. "I am very pleased to finally meet you."

"Wow, you're Japanese is flawless."

_I should hope so._

Light ignored Ryuk sniggered behind him and set Charm to Maximum.

00000

Light was finally rescued from the now suitably awed parents of Naomi Misora by Hideki Ide wanting to take his statement. Light left with Ide where they talked privately in one of the adjoining rooms.

Ide scowled as Light admitted to lying to the doctors so he could ride along.

"I just wanted to make sure she was alright."

_Well that's understandable… and according to one of the doctors on sight he stopped one of the nurses from making a fatal mistake._

As Light generously donated his now bloody white coat to their investigation (having removed all scraps of the Death Note while in the bathroom earlier) he looked troubled.

"The poor girl. What kind of animal _does_ that?"

Ide put a comforting hand on Light's shoulder (much to Light's annoyance) thinking how Chief Yagami's son was so soft-hearted. _Poor kid. Well, given his family's chosen career path, he'll be exposed to much more violence and even death soon enough. It'll either make or break him… and even if he can't make it he'd probably make a good doctor from the sounds of it._

00000

"…You know at first I wasn't sure, I often heard about how those office romances turn out, but after talking with him… yes that boy's a keeper."

Naomi blinked groggily, her eyes screaming against the painful brightness of the room.

"Mom?"

"Honey, you're awake!"

"We were so worried!"

"Not so rough, Katsumi. She's been through a lot" grumbled Isamu.

"I'm not made of glass, dad… and where's my phone? I need to make a call."

"No. Absolutely not!"

"Mom!" Naomi suddenly felt like she was twelve again and had just ruined best her skirt roughhousing with the boys.

"It's that horrible L again, isn't it? Making you go on all those dangerous missions!"

"He didn't make me do anything! …Dad, please, I need to call the Taskforce, right now."

Her dad gave an apologetic look. "Sorry honey… Hey, guess what, we finally met Raye."

_Raye? That's impossible. You'll never meet Raye now. Raye's dead. Beyond… Beyond cut him up… Beyond. L! I have to warn L!_

"He's waiting for you outside" her father continued gently, "we'll leave you two love-birds alone."

Katsumi all but pushed Light into the room.

"You just concentrate on getting better Naomi… So that you two can hurry up and get to work on my grandkids!"

"Yes, thank you Okaa-san," Light murmured.

Naomi was glaring at him hatefully.

Light had the good grace to look sheepish, he put his hand on the back of his neck and began with "I'm sorry," Naomi gave no reaction other than to continue to stare.

"I'm really sorry, Naomi Misora-san." he tried again.

"You-you told my parents that you…"

"I didn't, honest. They just assumed…" _and I just never corrected them._

"Who are you? How the hell do you even know my name?"

"Your wallet, I checked it when you passed out. What? I needed to know if you had any medical issues to tell the doctors."

"I HID my wallet."

"Yeah, that was brilliant, the way you hid it. I doubt anyone else would have been able to find it…" Naomi continued to glare. Light cleared his throat. "Sorry. I'm Light Yagami. My father is Chief Souichiro Yagami, the Chief of the NPA. I was the one that found you… and I couldn't help but overhearing…" _that you work for L…_ "you have urgent information for the Taskforce? I can pass your message on to him…"

Those were the magic words… Naomi grasped at this lifeline, (smarmy as he was.)

Also…

When she spoke with Light… she almost got the same feeling as when she was talking to L. (It was uncanny…)

"The man…" she began "the man who did this to me… I was not his true target."

Light was all ears.

"You're dad's in charge of the Taskforce? He may be in danger too." Light did not try to disguise his feelings of panic; this gave Naomi the incentive to go through with it. "404 Wara Ningyo. Tell your dad, or the Taskforce. L will know what it means."

_I'd better relay her message now (and hope it has nothing to do with Kira.) It would be suspicious to delay…_

Light retrieved his cell phone from his pocket and called his father. "Huh, it keeps going to voicemail… Maybe he's in a meeting?"

Light could feel Naomi's eyes on him. She was suspicious again. Other than the alleged L, he had never met anyone so paranoid.

"You know what? I can go to the station right now, if you'd like, and tell them there? Here's my number, in case you need anything."

Naomi was touched by Light's concern. She was being quite unfair to this helpful young man. It wasn't his fault she'd gone through hell. "Thank you."

"No problem. Maybe see you around?"

"Yeah."

In a peculiar moment she grabbed him with her good hand and held his for a moment before he gently pulled away.

"I-I have to go tell them..."

"Yeah," Naomi sunk down into the mattress, feeling oddly disappointed. "See you later."

_Fortune is in my favor today. Now I can research what the message actually means first before deciding whether or not to pass it on. I probably should though… After all, I have only 39 days to win her trust…_

…_Though killing her is always an option…_

00000

**A/N:**_ Light is such a good actor he may have even fooled you into thinking he actually cares…_

_How To Read 13 says Zellogi likes "soft things" so in my mind he is now and forever the Shinigami that drags a security blanket around._


	6. Cake

**A/N:** _Death Note is not nor will it ever be mine._

_I do however own a "death note," though it doesn't seem to be magic at all. There must be more than six out there…_

…_and I don't own Portal either…_

Recommended Soundtrack: _Still Alive_ by Jonathon Coulton

00000

**Chapter 6 Cake**

**Earlier that same day**

L chewed his cheesecake in thought. His first meeting in person with Light Yagami had been… strange. Light had seemed nervous when he told him that he was L, though he covered it well. Indeed, his reaction had been so subtle that L doubted that anyone else would have caught it. However (a Mr. Yagami supplied) that could just be from having just from having met his childhood hero in person. (His childhood hero? _L_ was KIRA's childhood hero? L didn't know whether to laugh or cry at that little bit of irony. Though it would hardly be the first time that someone aspiring to BE him had become a murderer…)

L must have been rattled if he was having trouble focusing like this. It was Light Yagami, Kira. He was a dangerous foe; his intelligence rivaled L's—not even his Successors truly came close.

He had readily agreed to his tests and did not back down from any of his challenges (…that in itself was very Kira-like)

He was personable, friendly, charming…

No.

L was supposed to know better than to be taken in by Light Yagami's smiles and sweet talk and L was not supposed to _have_ emotions let alone be affected by them. Emotions were to be filed inside a steel trap, chain them up, and throw away the key. Data goes in, answer comes out—L was to be like… a machine.

He was not supposed to be thinking things like _he may be Kira but he's such a nice guy to talk to, maybe afterwards I can visit him in prison._ This was NOT a good thing for the World's Greatest Detective to be thinking…

L knew that these killings likely had a supernatural component to it. Perhaps this was a clue to what it was. It had to be supernatural in nature. Nothing else could get L to forget his training and start inconspicuously drooling over a mass murderer. It would make sense if Light wasn't entirely human but some kind of monster that used seduction and lies to ruthlessly destroy its victims… a vampire, a Kitsune, an Incubus, something like that… Obviously the note about Shinigami was a false lead sent to confuse him... Now which of those monsters could kill from a distance with heart attacks?

In all seriousness, focus on the facts. Raye Penber and only Raye Penber has disappeared, and then the fact that Light was a perfect match to his Kira profile, he's incredibly arrogant, self-absorbed, intelligent, witty, makes great dinner conversation, and has a great…

Assistance! Yes, L needed assistance, and more cake (and some industrial strength bleach to burn the images out, he's 17 for God's sake!), but mostly cake. NOW! Cake would solve any residual conflicting feelings that L most certainly did not have… Yeah, better make it chocolate cake and mint ice cream, leave the tub.

"Watari," L began over the intercom "I need more cake, and I need it now."

Watari did not respond other than an odd gurgling coming from the other end…

L suddenly felt cold.

"Watari… _WATARI!_"

"Hello Lawli. It's been a while." L fell off of his chair. Beyond kept talking. "You never call, you never write. I'm hurt; just how many people do I have to kill to get your attention, Lawliet? …Funny you should mention cake… You should know better than to use the same three catering companies over and over again. But I suppose they must carry your favorite brands so I can kind of understand."

L recovered quickly, but could not keep some anger from leaking into his voice "If you have done as much research as you imply than you ought to know that I have officers standing by all over the place. What exactly do you intend to do from the lobby, B?"

"What lil' ol' me? Nothing!"

There was a popping sound behind him, and then a sharp pain in his neck. L reached up with his hand and removed what appeared to be a dart from his neck. He had just enough time to turn around to see who had shot it. L gaped in disbelief.

"I am truly sorry, L" said Aizawa.

00000

_Damn it! Watari managed to hit the kill switch before I was finished killing him, not sure how anyone could do that while being stabbed thirty-seven times but he managed…_ _The old coot always did manage to give me trouble. (Backup indeed. Who's Backup now, huh? I've won and you're dead.) A shame really, I really wanted to know who Raye Penber was trailing... Fucking Kira. That _still _gets me! Killing _that_ which I rightfully butchered! Me and Kira shall have words—sharp, cold, steel, knife-shaped words. Actually only I'll have words, he'll just shut up and listen. Heh heh heh._

Beyond's moment of triumph soured however when he returned to his hideout to find his other party guest had bailed while he was out. He had underestimated Naomi Misora (AGAIN!) who had taken this precious unsupervised time to escape. Beyond let out a scream of rage and kicked over the now empty blood-soaked chair. The psychopath seethed until he reminded himself of his most recent victory. Well, he had his Lawli now, and that was the important thing. Naomi could wait. She was, after all, only an afterthought, really. Aizawa came in, L slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes… that would not do at all.

"Gently, if you please!" after all, only he was allowed to punish Lawli...

After Aizawa strapped L into the indicated chair he turned to Beyond. "Ryuuzaki, I did as you asked—now let my family go!"

"Hmm? Oh, yes they're in the next room."

Aizawa rushed into the room Beyond had indicated. Beyond looked up from checking over his nails when the screaming and sobbing a moment later indicated that yes, Aizawa had discovered his dead wife and children.

"No, no, no, GOD NO! You said you would let them go!"

"Actually," Beyond continued causally as he came up from behind Aizawa and ran him through with his blade "the exact words were that 'I would let you join them soon,' so join them now." The blade dripped pretty-pretty red (like jam) as Aizawa crumpled to the floor. "Don't worry." Beyond told the corpse. "Everyone else will be joining you very soon."

A groan indicated that his Lawli was coming around. He couldn't have that yet; he had to move to the other hideout now. Beyond leaned in and began to gently stroke his hair before plunging the needle in.

...and when L moaned something about the Light Beyond figured that the drugs must have made him photosensitive...

00000

After about an hour of research and hacking certain American crime database websites Light had learned most of the uncensored details about the LABB murder case. There had been only three victims (but the manner in which they had been killed... upon downloading the crime-scene photos Light almost didn't grab his trash can in time as he lost his lunch. Even Ryuk and Zellogi were oddly silent.)

L had solved it, the culprit, Rue Ryuuzaki was on death row... and should have been executed by now. However it was reasonable to assume since this was Naomi's message for L; that Rue Ryuuzaki had escaped and that this must be the man that did _that_ to Naomi.

_Ryuuzaki? Any relation to my Ryuuzaki? … uh… the stalker… That "alleged L" That bastard that has taken to following me around like a lost puppy and looks like a drug addict and has atrocious table manners, yes any relation to him I wonder?_

There was no photograph (otherwise Kira would have given to him what he had apparently escaped so far…) that was all that was missing to eliminate this pest.

Though it was not mentioned, Light suspected that Naomi had been involved as well if she knew the nonpublic details that he had to really work to find. (The security on this thing was insane! His hack had nearly been discovered. The authorities were no doubt banging down the door to some poor schmuck's home in Madras right about now...)

Perhaps he could learn the finer details from Naomi. Next time he went in… and got her to forfeit ownership. _She's very capable if she managed to survive an encounter with someone like this_ twice_…_ _Perhaps… She trusts me now, as Light Yagami… and… she no doubt wants justice done… What the HELL are you thinking? That is absolutely absurd!_

He couldn't be even _considering_ taking stupid risks like that, especially with L having yet to make his next move and this new guy… who apparently even gave L trouble…

But...

_I need to concentrate on getting her to forfeit ownership… still… in the long-run. The Death Note really is my only weapon… and as Ryuk has been so generously pointing out lately I'm betting my life on this game, trying to change the world, if I want to win I'll need allies… or at the very least pawns. So why not start now? _

Ryuk began to chuckle mischievously as he watched the TV. Light had come to recognize it as his I-know-something-that-you-don't laugh.

"What is it Ryuk?"

"**Oh, nothing… "**

"_Today on Misa-Misa's Happy Sweets fatten up your love rivals with Glady's Cake! This recipe found by Ryotaro Sakujo-san on the Internet, thanks Ryotaro!" _

"Urgh! Are you seriously watching that? That's very annoying!"

Zellogi looked up from Light's bed (_note to self, change sheets before tonight_) and began to cackle as well. **"No way! This show is great!" **

"Oh right. _Because_ it's very annoying… That's why you like it."

"**Kukuku." **

Light once again tried to call his father with Misora's message.

_Ring Ring Ring… _

"…_1 can prepared coconut frosting, 3/4 cups vegetable oil, 4 large eggs…" _the bubbly voice sang from the television.

_Ring Ring Ring…_

"…_fish shaped crackers, fish shaped candies, fish-shaped volatile organic compounds, pull and peel licorice…"_

When the phone once again went to voicemail, Light began to worry. What if something had already happened to his father?

Light tried again, to his relief this time his father did pick up…

"Sorry son, I can't talk right now."

"Dad, wait…"

Click.

It didn't take long for Light to realize he was speaking to a dial tone.

"What the _hell?_"

It had sounded like utter chaos on the other end of the line… perhaps Rue Ryuuzaki has already made his move…

_If so… then if I leave things alone then L dies… then again I did promise to relay that message, it shouldn't hurt to do so now and it can only help with winning Naomi's trust. Light Yagami the "Concerned Citizen" most certainly would try everything… Now think, who else works with dad?_

His dad tried to keep work at work but Light remembered this one other guy that his dad had brought over for dinner one time, _Matsuda I think his name was…_

Light used the police database which he already had up to find his number and call him.

"Is this Mr. Touta Matsuda of the N.P.A.? There's something I need to tell you, it's very important. It's a message you need to relay to L."

"Light-kun? I'm uh… not supposed to talk about this."

"Look, I met an important witness, I'd do it myself but dad isn't answering his phone. The message is 404 Wara Ningyo. L is supposed to know what it means…"

"Oh right, I'll tell them…"

Light gawked at the phone. He almost couldn't believe that someone could slip up that badly. _Then they ARE working with L. Does that mean Ryuuzaki (the one I met) is the real L after all? I suspected as such after all, he is too weird to be a convincing decoy…_

00000

Matsuda arrived to find the Chief, Sanami, and Mogi already going through the wreckage of L's hotel room.

"What happened here?"

Mogi was grim. "Watari and Ukita are dead and we can't raise Aizawa either."

"This doesn't seem like Kira's style…" said the Chief "My gut's telling me that this was personal, someone with a grudge against L."

"Oh! I think I get it!" Matsuda chimed in. "A Legendary Detective like L, he's bound to have made enemies!" The Chief glared at him. Matsuda realized his enthusiasm was inappropriate for the current situation and murmured an awkward apology.

"Chief, I think I found something," Sanami returned from under the desk, she quickly stored the crumpled crossword puzzle into the plastic evidence bag. The puzzle itself was so lacking in even clues that it appeared to be unsolvable. "How peculiar, do you think this was sent by the perpetrator?"

"Oh Chief I just remembered there was something I was supposed to tell L…"

"You can't very well tell L now!" The Chief spat.

"Or to tell you… 404 Wara Ningyo. L was supposed to know what that meant… I think…"

"Since when?" grumbled Mogi.

"I think" Matsuda continued regardless "it might be connected to all this…"

00000

**A/N:** _Troubles brewing, Light doesn't like to be ignored._

_Poor Matsuda is trying so hard._

_Ryotaro Sakujo is the name given to Misa's stalker in the live action movie; he's a member of her production staff._

_Ukita is such a red shirt… and even I didn't see that thing coming with Aizawa… o_0_

_(I have WAY too much fun writing crazy-evil.)_


	7. Gods

**A/N:** _…and I still don't own Death Note…_

_Recommended Soundtrack: Blood on My Hands by The Used_

00000

**Chapter 7 Gods**

"Chief, bad news…" Sanami approached, file in hand "we found Aizawa… and his family…"

Upon viewing the crime scene photos Matsuda made a mad dash for the men's room.

"The bodies were left right outside the police station for us to find," she continued, disgusted, "how considerate."

"Have we learned anything else about Matsuda's lead?"

"Not much," grumbled Mogi. "Wara Ningyo brought up something about a serial killer in Los Angeles but many of the details of the case are locked—it was one of L's cases."

"Hmm." The Chief stroked his chin in thought. "Matsuda!" He called. Matsuda had returned from his bout of worshipping at the throne of the porcelain god though he was still looking rather green.

"Matsuda, how did you come by this information again?"

"Uggh." Matsuda groaned and then soldiered on "Light called me. He said he met a witness who needed to get into touch with L."

"And what did you tell him?"

"Nothing! Honest!"

The chief removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Mogi, I think you should resume your previous duties now… It's what L would have wanted. Also see if you can find out about this witness."

"Uh… wouldn't it just be easier to ask Light?" asked Matsuda.

The Chief looked pained. "Like it or not, my son is a Kira suspect, we should act accordingly. And in any case as his father I don't want him getting involved in any of this… All of you are to be careful. You've seen full well what this new subject is capable of and he may yet target us… and this goes for your families as well. Though my guts telling me that he already has what he wanted. The priority now is finding and recovering L. We have our work cut out for us, so let's get to it."

00000

"_Onii-chan!_"

Light quickly began the process of closing all the open windows on his computer such as the crime scene photos of Backyard Bottomslash and Quarter Queen (mutilated and MURDERED little girl… around Sayu's age…) As well as the databases of the various police agencies around the world.

"Uh… what is it Sayu?"

*_Ka-chik, ka-chik!_*

came the sounds of Sayu rattling his door handle.

"Ugh! Light, why do you always have to lock your door?" Sayu complained, "I forgot to tell mom, I was going out today..."

_That's right. Dad's working (of course) and mom's out shopping. _

"So uh, yeah, I'm going out today."

_My little sister… unsupervised… _…_and HE's still out there… _

"I'm just going out to the mall for a little bit…"

The door exploded open. "I'll go with you!" Light said quickly and with mock enthusiasm.

"Huh? But aren't you studying right now? And besides it's me and my friends from school. Girls doing girlie stuff. You'd be so bored…"

_I'm ALWAYS bored. But really, a small price to pay... _

"No, no, I'll come with you. Just let me get my coat."

He started reaching for his white coat when he remembered _Oh right that one's in the evidence locker. _So he chose his red jacket instead.

"Oh Light, you must be busy…"

"No, no I insist… What?" he asked, seeing the stunned look on her face "Is it such a crime to want to spend some quality time with my sister?"

"You are such a drama queen."

"Ha ha!"

"But seriously your weirding me out. What gives, really?"

"I've just had an epiphany of sorts… I just realized we don't really hang out that much anymore."

"E-piph-any?"

"Yeah…"

"You know Light, I'm 14 years old. I don't need a chaperone."

_Naomi Misora-san is tougher than you, Sayu, and look what that maniac did to her…_

"Alright, you got me… You see, I have NO CLUE what to get you for your birthday this year..."

"Ah, Light that's months away."

"You know how I like to be prepared. So come on, I'll get you whatever you want."

"You know, you'll regret saying that."

"…Probably."

_Because little sisters are worse than Shinigami when it comes to binding contracts..._

00000

"**The God of the New World is also a pack mule, who knew?"** Ryuk floated upside-down (just within hitting range if he managed to annoy his human enough) as he laughed while Light become weighed down by Sayu's many purchases… and no doubt it would get worse once they met up with Sayu's friends. Worse still, Light was sure he'd been spotted earlier by Ryo and Yamamoto from school. _Dammit, I'm never going to live this down._

"**KuKuKuKuKu."**

"Say didn't you want to get apples while we're out?

"Nah, I've changed my mind."

"**Hey, no fair!" **

"**Hey, what about me?" **Zellogi's headdress feathers shook with annoyance** "Or should I go out and introduce myself to Naomi Misora?"**

"…Wait, are you buying a _blanket?_" Sayu peered curiously at what her brother was putting in their basket as they went through the department store.

"Oh, it's for a friend… it's a _long story_... Anyway, what about that top?" Light knew deflection worked best as he indicated a tight pink one that he knew Sayu would like.

"This one?"

"Yeah, doesn't it look pretty sweet?"

"Yeah, cool! I'm gonna go try it on!"

"…**blankie." **The Death God moaned pathetically and tried to snag it on its hooked hand. Light intercepted it masking it with a move that looked completely natural.

"You'll GET IT when we get HOME, _moron_."He whispered. Like hell was he going to contend with rumors of ghosts what with blankets floating around… and Zellogi, seeing that _look_, confirmed once again that Ryuk's human is indeed, quite scary.

Meanwhile at the beginning of Hour Four of The Great Shopping Trip and listening to Light talk clothes with his sister Mr. Mogi was seriously beginning to question young Yagami-kun's sexuality...

But soon Mogi realized he should have wished that things had remained boring…

It was as Light and Sayu wandered through the food court when someone suddenly blocked their path. Someone large with bulging muscles. He looked like a gaijin, with sickly pale skin and shaggy red hair falling across his bulging yellow eyes. Sayu squeaked with fear as the man smiled at them… Light could understand why. Those were not human teeth, it looked closer to the mouth of a…

"Shinigami."

Light's eyes widened.

"Which of you is it? Show yourself to me!"

He glowered down at them. "It's one of you isn't it? You smell of Death. You're the reason God doesn't talk to me anymore!"

As the man drew nearer; Light instinctively stepped in front of Sayu, all the while his mind a whir. Who was this? What did he know? _How_ did he know? Did he know that he was Kira? He knew nothing about this guy, and sincerely doubted he could get his name in time._ Oh hi, you've probably come here to kill us, could you please tell me your name? Right…_ _and even so, there's the matter of that OTHER guy that's been following us, I think he's a police tail. It would be bad to let him see how I kill… I might be able to use him, but I can't count on him to step in and help either….Best bet. Just play innocent and scared and ask yourself what would Light Yagami, the caring older brother do? _

Light scanned around looking for SOMETHING he could use… his eyes finally landing on IT on a nearby table…

_Well… This is hardly the best plan I've ever come up with. _

"I'll find you… squeeze it out of the both of you. Then I will surely have _HIS_ favor! And afterwards… you look like just my type… little Sayu Yagami." HIS SISTER. This animal was touching his sister!

"Sayu, run!" Light lunged for that steaming Styrofoam coffee cup and then threw it in the guy's face. The man screamed.

…and Sayu did run… and hid under one of the wall-side tables.

_Idiot." Run" means get out of here! _

Meanwhile the coffee had failed to slay crazy-man, who indeed seemed oblivious to the smells of coffee and boiling flesh… he only seemed angrier than before.

_Yes, genius. _Light thought as this bear of a man grabbed him by his shirt.

"Freeze!"

_Well, looks like my tail decided to blow his cover after all.._. Mogi had his gun pointed at his attacker…

"Drop him and get your hands over your head, now!"

The red-haired monstrosity threw Light to the floor, then spun around and soon had lifted _Mog_i up by the neck with one hand.

"Don't interfere, _mortal!_" hissed the monster through his rows of shark-teeth.

As he shoved Mogi up against the wall, the gun flew out of his hands… Mogi tried to get free but he would have had more luck in fighting a brick wall. With those glistening fangs inches from his face, Mogi knew he was going to die…

And then a sound, like thunder… a sudden explosion rose-colored and wet and…

The guy's head was missing… Mogi belatedly realized that that sound had been a gunshot. Mogi watched as the Chief's son dropped his gun with trembling hands. He slunk to the floor, wide-eyed and terrified.

The only thought that Mogi was able to process at the moment was _That was a good shot._

It probably helped that Ryuk had written down "Mukido Bukimi shot to death" in his own Death Note. Don't get the wrong idea—he didn't do it to save his human, (thus why he wasn't a pile of dust and ashes) it was just he was in enough trouble as it was and leaving something alive that was in clear violation of the rules would no doubt exacerbate his problems back home. He would never tell Light, though. The kid might get the wrong idea.

00000

**A/N: **BOOM! HEAD SHOT!

Thou shalt not suffer an OC to live…


	8. Backup

**A/N:**_ Nope, Death Note is still not mine._

_Recommended Soundtrack: The Fatalist by Dark Tranquility_

00000

**Chapter 8 Backup**

L slowly became aware of the familiar hum of computers and machinery. But the background squeaking betrayed his whereabouts. Rats and the creaking of a large industrial fan. Beyond Birthday had apparently constructed a transmogrified version of L's own headquarters in this abandoned warehouse. Within his line of sight was a table filled with various sharp things and other torture implements...

"Oh good. You're awake." Beyond must have recognized a slight change in his breathing… no not only that he was hooked up to a heart monitor machine? _Why didn't I notice that before?_ L thought in frustration—his thoughts were so muddled! (Was this what it was like for normal people?) L reasoned that Beyond had probably drugged him. Also he was being forced to sit normally.

Beyond grinned at him and whispered "Oh, Lawli. What have you done now?"

As the psycho leaned over to peer at him; uncomfortably close and then began to _touch_ him, tenderly stroking his cheek with his scarred fingers.

_What did_ I_ do? What did Beyond…_ "You-YOU KILLED OUR FATHER!" L was surprised at the first words to escaped his mouth, and even more so at the rage that accompanied them... L was trained to suppress his emotions but this was just too much! He felt raw pain—_pure hatred_. Was it what Beyond had done? Or maybe his meeting with Yagami-kun was screwing him up even worse than he thought.

Beyond halted mid stroke; a disgusted sneer spread across his face. "We're ORPHANS, Lawli" Beyond returned, mockingly "We never had a father, least of all him!"

Beyond stormed across the room; facing away from him. L took this opportunity to test the bonds… they were indeed tight and secure.

"Lawli, you allegedly know the Law better than anyone yet can you honestly say that what went on… and what still goes on at THAT PLACE…" There was an odd note in his voice, (well, even odder than usual…) "Where _you_ and _Mr. Wammy _could freely abuse defenseless orphans with no recourse to law."

L just gaped at him. "Well, B. I realized that you have problems, I never realized that a faulty memory was one of them."

"Of course, you don't call it as such. You call it training "the best education available. What pretty words! You know, not a jury in the world would convict me if they knew what _you_ put us through."

"I didn't think it was so tough on you, B and I asked nothing of any of you that I didn't ask of myself."

"Well we ARE NOT you, L. LOW. LIGHT." Beyond dropped his cutesy nickname and drawled out L's true name, a syllable at a time. L's already wide eyes went as big as saucers… He never knew. Never knew how Beyond knew his true name. Beyond was reminding him that if he had truly wanted to, he could have had him killed by Kira at any time… But no. Beyond no doubt wanted a much more _personal_ touch. Beyond knew that he knew that, which was why he had suddenly lunged at L, sitting on top of him, a knife to his throat, just barely breaking the skin.

L managed to hide his fear behind his impassive mask but his mind was screaming with confused and terrified thoughts.

_He won't… at least not yet, but… I thought I knew what Beyond was after, but now?_ _Is it simple revenge after all? Was that fourth doll always meant for me? No! I mustn't allow him to intimidate me like this!_

"...don't tell that to me; tell that to A! Tell _her_ that that was just "training!" Oh wait, you can't she's dead. She hung herself. A does not equal L. Simple math, Lawli. Subtraction. I could see it you know. Her numbers ticking down to zero. But I knew. I knew that none of _you_ would ever understand. After all _how I knew _was not _logical._ How does it feel, Lawli, to know that you are responsible? How does it feel to know that you drove children to their deaths?"

"I have nothing to say to you, B. You made your own choice—you chose to become a murderer" Beyond was obviously annoyed at being dismissed as such. This was L's opportunity. _Keep him off balance…_ "A made her choice as well. She could have quit at any time, she was under no obligation…"

Beyond got right in his face, "I call bullshit." After a moment of glaring at his captive, Beyond got off him and removed the knife from his neck. L let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"…And another thing, Lawli. I didn't _kill_ those people."

"Well B, I must admit I wasn't expecting that. I never thought that you of all people would attempt to insult _my_ intelligence. "

"_I_ didn't. _You_ did. You and Mr. Wammy. Oh sure, I was the one holding the knife. I was the one that ended their lives. Still I am no murderer. I never killed anyone who wasn't already dead," Beyond cracked a broken smile. "Numbers don't lie. And there was no other way to capture your attention. Oh, believe me, I tried." B idly circled around L's chair; twirling the knife in one hand."So, this is still all on you. You CREATED me. I wouldn't even EXIST if not for you…"

"And now you deny responsibility for your own actions? Really I expected better from you."

"You mean like _you did_, Lawli? Don't you remember? All those times, Lawliet? All those times I protected you, took the fall for you..."

"Yes, I do. And for that I am grateful. That still does not excuse murdering four people in cold blood."

"Actually we're up to around nine and half, I think. Really I think I've lost count. Doesn't matter really, there's soon to be more. _Much more._"

"…_Half?_"

"I'm afraid one of my latest projects was an unintended collaboration… I'll tell you all about it after I've killed Kira for you."

"I want Kira brought to justice. Not—"

"It's the same thing really. Be it by my blade" (Beyond performed an elaborate spin trick with his knife "or by the needle," and here he poked the edge of the knife into L's arm just enough for a bead of blood to form on the end. "Dead is dead."

"And I'm sure Kira thinks the same way…"

"_Kira. Kira. Kira!_ That's all you ever talk about anymore! There's a guy out there that can apparently kill people with his mind or something. I see the deaths. I know when they're supposed to go. But even I can't do that! Really now Lawli, how do you expect lil ol 'me and my knife collection to compete with that? Heh heh heh. You've only got eyes for HIM. I wonder if you even noticed when I grabbed Misora and her fiancé…"

_Misora… Misora… that's right HER, Naomi Misora, my shield!_

Beyond seemed to guess his thoughts as he continued; "Well, well, well. You didn't! That's always been your weak point, Lawli. You know everything—except people… "

Something else occurred to L. "Where's Aizawa?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

"No... indulge me."

"Very well," Beyond mockingly stifled a yawn. "I killed him. After all, if he knew anything else he wasn't sharing that information (not that it matters, I was planning on solving this case myself anyway) and he would be troublesome after he discovered that I had already murdered his family."

_Aizawa… You were as loyal as you could be, given the circumstances._

"…You know, Lawli," Beyond continued conversationally. "You're whole… lack of people skills—that's a hell of a deficiency for a Detective, really, a major flaw. See, goes to show. You are not perfect. You never were."

"I never claimed to be."

"Not so much in words, but in actions. They speak louder ya'know. And _they_ most certainly did. They all held you up on a pillar, and they still do. A _God_ among us! What we all aspired to and never could be. Oh pity us poor mortals! We are not worthy… No wonder this "Kira" takes up so much of your attention! Did you finally find a kindred spirit, someone as arrogant and selfish as you?"

"Shut up."

"You know, you are not The World's Greatest Detective L, Lawli. Not anymore. You have NO RIGHT to that name! You gave it up the moment you started using mine. Is that all I ever was to you Lawli? Just another trophy on your shelf? You couldn't even be bothered to take my case seriously and sent that Misora-bitch, oh I'm sorry, "_your Shield_" in your place. You know, I had to lead her by the nose to get anywhere!"

"Yes Backup, you are correct. You were not worth my time. You still aren't. Not with Kira on the loose."

Beyond sunk the knife into L's thigh.

L barely managed to avoid screaming. But, he could deal with this. Keep him talking and keep him angry and irrational. Physical pain he could deal with. He was conditioned to handle it. It was extremely dangerous but if he could keep Beyond off balance he might just reveal something he could use to escape.

Beyond twisted the knife. Now L did scream. Beyond looked smug.

"I suppose this means YOU are the Backup now, because I will reveal Kira first..."

Did Beyond truly have a solid lead against Kira?

"…Because I am the true L, You are the fake. Who are you really, L? You are _no one_!"

_Yes, just keep telling yourself that Backup._ But L bit his tongue, because if there was a chance that Beyond had information that could lead to Kira's arrest…

…and perhaps L did feel some responsibility. Perhaps that's why even now, he tried to reach Beyond…

And if it meant defeating the evil that was Kira and bringing him to justice than perhaps he and Beyond could put aside their differences and cut a deal…

"B, you know it's not too late…"

"Yes, Lawliet. It IS too late." Beyond sighed. He sunk the bloodied blade down into the table top, and crouched, L-style down next to it, his bangs covering his eyes as he stared at the ceiling. "It's always been too late." Beyond seemed to retrieve a jar of jam from nowhere; he popped the lid and began scooping it out with his fingers. "Not that any of this truly matters in the long run, you know. Oh wait you don't. Well then, just another thing, huh? That I know and you don't. Well I guess you'll just have to find that out now won't you? Heh heh I just wish I could live to see the look on your face."

What was this? Was this something he could latch onto? "Just what do you mean by that Beyond? Did something happen?" Then something finally clicked "Are you _dying?_"

"Are you concerned for me, Lawli? I'm touched really. But don't you know, Lawli? Everyone dies. It's really nothing to worry about."

"Please B..."

Beyond grinned. "Ooh, I love it when you beg."

"Won't you join me? We can catch Kira together!"

"You would have a murderer on your payroll, Lawli?"

"Well… You have a unique perspective on things. I could use your expertise."

Beyond seemed to consider it for a moment and then started laughing.

"No. I will find Kira myself. I will find him and kill him for you, and before you. And don't you worry your pretty little head about it; it's of no consequence, really. Haha! Since I am a better you than you, Lawli, and soon I shall prove it by bringing you Kira's head on a pike. Just watch me, Lawli!"

Beyond sat himself down at his hacker cave. "I don't know what you've been doing Lawlipop, but as for me, I already have a solid lead. It's a pity that Watari deleted all the data. I don't suppose you have a _backup_ stored on an offsite server, now do you? ….Hmmm. You've improved the security on this thing since the last time."

Actually the third in line, M2 had, but L wasn't about to tell Beyond this… He also wasn't about to tell him that he was wasting his time. It was a given that Watari had indeed deleted everything that could be accessed. All the information L had uncovered on his cases was now in the safest place of all, his own mind.

"Shoot."

"Trouble?"

"No, no just my compliments to you. You know, most world governments don't have security as good as this. Which reminds me, I would advise against trying to escape. Because I have a plan B, a "Backup plan" if you will, Heh heh. Aren't I a riot? You see if you keep ignoring me like you have been, then I shall have to do something naughty to regain your attention I suppose. I doubt you would care if I offed more of these losers, not when I take the time to do it one at a time, to kill in that old fashioned hand-crafted way. No, that could NEVER compete with Kira to keep YOUR attention. So I got to thinking, how could I outdo Kira? Then I remembered that little fact… And that's how I came upon this list of nuclear launch codes. Just so you know. I CAN outdo this Kira you are so infatuated with, if I so wished. But that would be rather unpleasant and it would make it harder for me to buy my jam if the world was reduced to cinders. I would ask that you do not force me to take such drastic measures. _Haha!_"

L could no longer disguise his fear, so much death and it would be on his hands… "You're insane!"

Beyond begins clapping. "Give it up for the "World's Greatest Detective!" Look at you go! Utterly amazing deduction that. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Heh heh… hee hee ho! Oh, I know. And here's the kicker, Lawli," Beyond draped his arms lazily around his captive's shoulders, "I'm one of the SANER ones to make it out of that Madhouse. You see? You see what you did Lawli? Oh what have you done, Lawli? What have you done?"

00000

**A/N:** Here's hoping that that was sufficiently creepy…


	9. Suffering

**A/N:** _I don't own Death Note._

_Recommended Soundtrack: The Last Firstborn by Celldweller_

**Chapter 9 Suffering**

"…Hasn't spoken a word since..." Mogi mumbled.

"And the doctors think its post-traumatic stress?" asked Matsuda.

Mogi silently affirmed with a nod. Matusda now found himself wishing he had been there. He would have _murdered_ the animal that did this! How dare he attack the Chief's family!

"Chief! Thank god!" Mogi fell into step with the Chief and Matsuda as they stormed the corridors of the hospital.

"How could this happen!"

"Look, Chief… I think it would be for the best if no one presses charges… It was clearly self-defense and then there's the whole Kira-issue…"

"At the very least this should clear him of suspicion of being Kira, right? I mean if he were Kira he wouldn't have to, you know…"

Soichiro looked sternly at Mogi and Matsuda. "Right now I am not your Chief. Whatever happened, right now, I am just the father of my children. I cannot even think of—Mogi I'll leave it to you. I'm going in to see them now."

"_Dad!_"

Soichiro's first reaction was to hug his child. "I'm so glad you're alright!"

"…can't breathe…"

"Sorry," the Chief relaxed his grip a little (still hugging but not quite so hard.)

"Dad, oh dad! I was so scared! _I'm so sorry!_"

"What are you apologizing for? None of this is your fault."

"But I couldn't… I didn't... and now…"

"Shh. It's going to be alright. You both made it out alive. For that I am grateful. "

Father and child held each other a bit longer before the later sniffled and asked "So, how's Light?"

00000

Light sat on the hospital bed, still as a statue, staring at his hands as if they held the answers to the universe. The events played over and over in his head, a broken record… His sister screaming, the man grabbing him, the gun flying, the decision to seize it and pull the trigger, all that blood...

The Shinigami Ryuk was beginning to get annoyed. It had been funny watching Light go catatonic at first but having to watch it for hours was not very entertaining.

"**Light-o, oh Light-o!"**

"…"

"**C'mon Light, this is hardly the first time you've killed someone…."**

Ryuk hovered upside-down in front of Light's face. **"Ah, teenagers. Once they've entered that emo-phase you have so much trouble getting them to talk to you."**

"…"

Ryuk landed ungracefully in front of Light, and began to poke him **"Light! Snap! Out! Of! it!"**

Light sunk back onto the bed and covered his face with his hands.

"**Was it not real to you before? Did you think that this was ALL just a game?"**

Light twitched slightly.

"**A reaction! I think I'm getting warm…. You know you'd better get used to it. Don't tell me you're giving up? I mean you've gone way too far to stop now."**

Ryuk noted the eye movement. Light was now glaring at him hatefully out of the corner of his eye.

Progress.

"**What happened to "it's worth it even if I have to sacrifice my mind and soul"? Did one little crook catch you unprepared?"**

_Shut up._

"**Seriously Light, did you suddenly forget that you are a killer? And not just any killer but the most prolific killer in human history? That sort of thing… it must be in your very nature, you know. It's hard-wired in your blood. You can't change who and what you are. And what that is, is a God in human form—Death God that is…."**

_SHUT UP!_

"**Do you need me to give you a little pep talk or something? Self-esteem! I love me for me! Be happy with who you are! Light! Light! He's our man! If he can't do it! No one can!"**

"_Shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up SHUT THE FUCK UP!"_

"Hey, are you okay? I heard you shouting… Here let me give you something..."

"No I'm fine Ms…"

Nurse Rin Bukimi, the Angel of Death.

_Oh crap._

"No, I'm fine really I don't need anything."

Light scuttled away from the nurse, getting tangled in the hospital gown.

"You need to rest."

As the nurse drew in she suddenly felt a sudden tap on her shoulder, she glanced behind her in time to see a dark-haired woman leap towards her, and execute a flying spin kick. The syringe was knocked from her hand and lodged itself into the wall.

"Misora-san?"

"What's going on here!" bellowed Light's father.

"Are you with the police?" Misora asked as she held nurse Rin in a restraining hold "Please arrest this woman for attempted homicide."

"Get her off me!"

"…since I heard what happened, I've had my suspicions..."

"_She's crazy!_" Insisted Rin.

"She's been killing her patients! She just tried to kill this man."

"She's right, I saw her," Light chimed in "I thought it was an accident at first but…"

The Chief slapped the handcuffs on Rin Bukimi and then turned back to look at his son. Soichiro looked torn between being angry and being concerned…

"I'm glad to see you're feeling better, Light. We'll talk soon."

"Okay… "

_Did the Death Note not work? Or maybe I was too specific? Maybe because I wrote that "Bukimi Rin does no further harm to her patients" and I'm not technically her patient?_

"Hey." Light glanced up to see Naomi smiling at him.

"Hey. Thank you, Naomi Misora-san."

"Yeah, well I thought I heard you from down the hall… You okay?"

"Yeah, thanks again, but what about you? I mean… That was amazing but really, should you be up and around after…"

Naomi made an annoyed sound. "Yeah, I'm okay now, but the stupid doctors won't let me out of here. But I guess this means we're even now, huh?"

"Yeah, thanks again."

"Oh! Ow. I think I tore my stitches!"

"Maybe the doctors know what they're doing after all."

Naomi scowled at him.

"Uh, sorry."

"Say what's this?"

"Oh? Dad must have left it here. It looks like a crossword puzzle with no clues…"

Naomi looked grim. "I've seen this sort of thing before… He sent it to mock the police. Because he knows no one would be smart enough to solve it."

_Oh? Ha! Well I'll show him... Not like I have anything better to do anyway…_

Light began solving it, Naomi peering over his shoulder.

"Oh, and the answer to that one is Great Devil King."

"Huh?"

"The perp is a fan of Akazukin Chacha."

"Wait, you _know_ who it is?"

"Yeah.. why?"

"I tried to find out, but that case is locked."

"Well, that's to be expected. It's one of L's cases."

…And so Light the (Evil) Genius Mastermind and Naomi who was experienced with Beyond's particular brand of insanity filled out immediately the puzzle that had stumped the country's top cops. Then they discovered the elaborate and altogether ridiculous number cipher it translated to...

At this point Matsuda came in to visit Light and peeked at what Light and Naomi were working on.

"What's that? Lucky lotto numbers?"

_Could it be... lifespans? _"Wait no," Light said aloud "see it forms a code. If you arrange it like this..."

25 5 12 12 15 23 2 15 24

"Maybe… try using the English alphabet. He's done that particular trick before."

25 = Y

5 = E

12 = L

15 = O

23 = W

2 = B

24 = X

"Y-E-L-L-O-W-B-O-X, Yellow box?" Light said, a note of confusion in his voice "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Perhaps it's a clue to the suspect's location?"

"But would he really do something so… STUPID as to tell us where he is?"

"Yes he would," said Naomi "because he is that confident… and that crazy."

"I'll start looking for places that have that name!" declared Matsuda, ecstatic that there was finally a lead was up and out the door in a flash.

"Wow, we did that…"

"Yeah, we make quite a team."

Naomi made to do a little victory dance… "Oh, Ow!"

"You know, you should really get those stitches looked at."

"No shit, Sherlock."

00000

**_Sometime earlier, the Yellow Box Warehouse_**

"Good morning, Lawli dearest!" Beyond chirped brightly upon seeing that L was awake… well perhaps that wasn't the right word. L's eyes were open true, but… _"What did you do, Lawli? What did you do?"_

It was clear from how unfocused they were that L wasn't home right now. Not that that stopped Beyond from trying to engage in conversation.

"Did you have sweet dreams?" Beyond asked cracking a smile.

L was laying on his side, couldn't be doing much else really, considering the way he was chained to the bed. "Naughty L. One should speak when spoken to." Beyond began idly poking his knife into L's naked flesh drawing blood. L still gave no reaction.

"You know, you can be a real drag to be around, Lawli." Now normally this would have been enough provocation for Beyond to start hacking off limbs but really, Beyond just wasn't in the mood today. He had gotten EVERYTHING he wanted from L last night, so he simply shrugged and clicked on the TV. Perhaps _Teletubbies_ was on…

"You can fatten your love rivals by five kilos!"

"Well now isn't that interesting…" Beyond said as he laid his eyes upon the bubbly blonde Japanese girl who had no visible lifespan...

00000

**A/N:** _Just to clarify the timeline, Beyond sees Misa's cooking show at the same time that Light does..._

_In poor emo!Light's defense shooting someone WOULD seem more real than just writing names in a notebook..._


	10. Forfeit

**A/N:** _I relinquish all ownership of Death Note which I never owned in the first place._

_Recommended Soundtrack: Justice in Murder by Coheed and Cambria_

00000

**Chapter 10 Forfeit**

Naomi sighed. While she was happy that the investigation was progressing, at this rate they'd catch Beyond before she could check out of the hospital. She had indeed torn her stitches. The doctor had scolded her and now she was once again confined to her bed.

Naomi looked wistfully at the plastic that had replaced her ring finger. _It could have been much, much worse… like what he did to Raye…_

Naomi barely heard the slightly hesitant knocking over the TV.

"Who is it?"

"It's Light."

Naomi brightened considerably. "Come in!"

Naomi did a double-take when Light entered the room, and she pondered on whether it would be polite to tell Light that he looked like prowler in that dark sweatsuit… probably not.

"I thought you went home with your family…"

"Yeah I did. I just wanted to see you."

"Jeez, what time is it? It's… tomorrow. Do your parents know you're out?"

"No… please don't tell them."

"Ugh. Why are you here?"

"I told you, I wanted to see you. Happy birthday!"

_Birthday… Beyond… That's not something I..._

"Um… are you okay?" Light asked as Naomi suddenly got a glazed look in her eyes.

"Huh? Oh, uh, it's just you're like a month early… and wait, you're giving me _that?_"

Naomi took the gift from him and unwrapped it. _The Hell?_

"Oh a college-bound notebook—just what I always wanted. What, too cheap to spring for chocolate? This cost you what, 80 yen?"

"No, actually, it was free. I know I'm a horrible cheapskate for re-gifting, but I really thought you would like it."

…And she did, really. It had a strange draw to it. It was almost like it was calling to her. She wanted to hold it and never let go... Plus it had a very unique feeling to it and… was that leather it was bound in?

_Yes, it's working! She'll reject it and thus forfeit ownership. Reverse psychology. This plan is foolproof._

"You really don't like it?" Light managed to look absolutely crestfallen.

"Well…"

"…So give it back and I'll get you something better!"

"You didn't have to get me anything." _He must have a crush. It's sweet, really._ She'd have to let him down gently. There was no way she wanted to be in a relationship this soon, after what happened to Raye. Also there was the fact that he was still in high school, it would be robbing the cradle... "But you know what, now that I really look at it, it's pretty cool looking, and the doctor wanted me to start keeping a journal."

_Ah, Crap._

"No seriously, give that back and I'll get you chocolates, what kind do you like?"

"No way, it's mine. You gave it to me, I'm keeping it."

"Hey what… what are you going to write in there?"

"That's private! But I figured I'd start with "today Yagami Light gave me a cheap-ass gift."

Without warning Light lunged for the Notebook and tore it out of her hands.

"Hey! What the hell is your problem! You can't just give somebody a gift and take it back like that! What would your ancestors say to that?"

Light breathed a sigh of relief upon finding it was still blank. Ryuk was rolling around on the floor, bawling with laughter.

"No seriously, return it to me and I'll get you something better, honest!"

"Return it to you? What do you mean? You already have it!"

"…It's just I really, I know so little about you, I really didn't know what to get you, and flowers seemed so clichéd… "

"Tsk, this from my future husband."

"I thought you said you cleared that up with your parents!"

Naomi was silently laughing at how easy it was to tease Light. The kid was so uptight. He really needed to loosen up or he'd end up having a heart-attack at twenty.

"I did. Apparently you made a really good impression. They still think you are perfect Son-In-Law material. Though if you don't start planning the wedding with them soon, I think my dad may get out his shotgun."

"Ha ha!"

"I wasn't joking."

"…"

Just then, there was a sudden buzzing coming from the TV as something interrupted the signal. The sitcom that had been playing was replaced with someone's ill-lit and amateur video…

_Creak… creak… creak…_

…it was some kind of background noise…

It looked like they were in a warehouse somewhere, Light noted the details… hooks, chains, dripping water… the camera shook and soon was trained on the frightened young woman strapped to the chair…

"Ryuuzaki," Naomi's voice was hushed and hate-filled.

A masked man came into focus. Light noted all the details… he did indeed look like Ryuuzaki… he wore a white sweater and baggy blue jeans like Ryuuzaki (except they were splattered with blood) and he also had long shaggy black hair… but it was obvious that this _wasn't_ _his_ Ryuuzaki. He had a bigger build for one, not to mention the eyes, blood red and shining clearly through the mask.

"Hello ladies and gentleman," began the masked man. "This is L, The TRUE L, and I'm calling out to any police or say any _Kiras_ in the audience this evening. You may want to pay attention. Now you may or may not recognize that we have a celebrity on the show this evening! So let's all give a hand for Ms. Misa Amane! As you can see, she could use one."

The poor girl whimpered in anguish.

Naomi sharply inhaled as Beyond grabbed the girl by the chin forcing her to look at him.

"Misa Amane... Are you Kira?"

"No." It was barely a whisper but said with defiant determination, as if she had been asked that question many times.

"No! Then what is your connection to Kira?"

"I don't know anything about Kira!"

"Then why can't I see your numbers, hmm?"

"Please, I have no idea what you're talking about," she wailed.

"I think you do. Kira killed the man who murdered your parents and that's why you worship a mass murderer. Now-now, that is no way for a young lady to behave! What would your parents say?"

For a moment, Misa's eyes seemed to flash red as she stared fixedly and defiantly at her attacker "Kira is a hero! He's a symbol of hope and of justice! Good, pure-hearted people don't have to be afraid anymore!"

"Oh, really?"Beyond asked as he gave her a series of small shallow cuts across the face.

Misa glared at him hatefully. "…And whatever you may do to me... I can die secure knowing that Kira will give you what's coming to you!"

Beyond sighed, as he apathetically played with his knife, "I so hoped this interview would be more revealing. Oh well..." and then he began to stab.

Despite this, Misa continued to watch the camera "Kira-sama, Kira-sama! Kill him Kira-sama! Avenge me Kira-sama!" hacking off more pieces Misa stared upwards and began to cry "Kill me! Kill me please! I beg of you. No more! Kill me and avenge my death!"

As Beyond was mid-swing Misa gave out a little moan and closed her eyes. She died peacefully before Beyond can do anything else. Beyond let out an inhuman scream which turned into "_KIRA!_" then he swung out wildly and smashed the camera. The signal went offline… The laugh-track resumed on the TV.

_It must have been Kira, again._ Naomi was almost grateful… the same thing happened with Raye… It was a mercy, compared to what Beyond had done and further planned to do…

Light was seething. _How DARE you._ _Rue Ryuuzaki must have picked her up because... did she own a Death Note? Was it a Shinigami, another Kira? That poor girl... Rue Ryuuzaki, what you did—you are No L! You are not worthy of that title… HOW DARE YOU! … This, this is the man who has L? I... I can't let L die like that… L IS MINE! This will not go unpunished. _"…That _evil_ has no place in this world."

Naomi stared wide-eyed at the TV screen. Seeing that had brought back many unpleasant memories.

She drew her mouth into a tight line. Another victim. Another girl taken by Beyond and this one not as fortunate as her... Naomi squared her jaw with determination.

"…I want to stop that bastard from hurting anyone else! It's all I want to do!"

"You know what he looks like?"

"Of course, I do!"

"…and you know his real name, right?"

"I see what you're getting at; we broadcast his name online and get Kira to kill him. For one I don't have his photograph, but not only that I don't want _Kira_ to punish him… "

"You want to do it… I get it."

_It's clear that she likes and trusts me. And she wasn't completely turned off to that idea… She's no true threat to me, and it could be interesting… and if it goes badly I can always kill her. Yeah… if I just push her a little bit more…_

"…so what if you could?"

"Huh?"

"What if you _could_ punish him? …For what he did to you, and Amane-san, and all the other victims? Would you do it?"

"Why are you even asking?"

"_Would you?_" Light insisted.

Naomi looked him right in the eye. "In a heartbeat."

"But you know his name."

"I thought you understood. I want to kill the son of a bitch myself!"

Light tore a scrap of paper out of the notebook and wrote something on it.

"Write his name."

"Huh?"

"Write his name down and he will die. That is Kira's power. Naomi Misora-san, I am Kira."

00000

**A/N:** _Lol, Light why are you telling her this? (That overconfidence is going to get you in trouble someday…)_

_Light can feel sorry for Misa because he never got to know her. I believe that he hates her in canon for pushing herself onto him and for killing innocents in his name. (You see, it's only truly justified if he does it…)_

_You might be wondering why Rem failed to protect Misa. Answers are coming soon…_


	11. Salvation

**A/N:** _Still don't own. blah blah blah._

_Recommended Soundtrack: Twisted Eyes by Persuader_

00000

**Chapter 11 Salvation**

**Earlier, the Yellow Box Warehouse**

Rem's angry roar went unheard by the masked man who had grabbed Misa. That mask was the only thing stopping her from killing him. She would just pull it off and… "No Rem," Misa whispered. "You CAN'T!" Misa was scared but she didn't want Rem to end up like Gelus. Besides, surly Kira would save her, right? "Stalker-san thinks I'm Kira. If you help me escape it will only prove that I have supernatural powers."

**"But Misa…"**

"Then it wouldn't just be _this _stalker. It would be many more of them… and they'd go after Kira, not to mention the other followers…"

**"Please Misa..."**

"Rem… The other hostage! He has it worse than me. Please, help him escape!"

**"Misa…"**

"Please Rem?"

**"Alright, I will do as you wish..."**

00000

**Now**

"Naomi Misora-san, I am Kira."

Naomi stared at Light, wide-eyed and open mouthed…

…and then burst out laughing.

"Oh, you had me there for a moment... You sounded so serious!"

Light scowled. "That's because I was…"

"Look, you're a sweet kid, Light. You shouldn't make jokes like that."

Light rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Ryuk," Light seemingly commanded the empty air "…shut up and tell Zellogi to get in here."

Naomi was still giggling as Light tried again. "Yes, I am Kira and the God of this New World... now please stop laughing before I'm forced to kill you."

"Come on that's taking this a bit far."

Just then a hideous corpse-monster wearing spikes and an Indian headdress phased through the wall. Naomi decided to do the dignified thing… and shriek in terror…

"Is everything alright?" Asked a nurse who came running in.

_Good, at least it's not a psycho one this time, thank Me_. Light has rolled up the notebook and was squatting on the floor acting as if he was intently tracking something. "No, it is not alright. We have a _VERY BAD_ rat problem in here! I suggest you get somebody to do something about it." But the nurse was not paying attention to his cover story and was in fact looking directly at Zellogi.

"G-ghost! Ghost!"

_How…_

The nurse ran away screaming. Upon seeing the reason for that reaction, Light applied his palm directly to forehead. "…Zellogi" Light began dangerously in an almost-growl "what did I tell you about dragging that blanket around?"

"**You're not the boss of me, human."**

"If you keep this up, I won't get you any more nice things."

"**I have _this _blankie. I don't _need_ anymore."**

"This behavior will not be tolerated. Get in the corner. Now… I said NOW!"

To Naomi's utter wonderment the demonic creature looked cowed and obeyed his commands.

"D-Does it _have_ to obey you?"

"**Nope. Just Light is a demon far more ruthless than your average Shinigami. Hyuk hyuk hyuk."**

"She can't see or hear you, Ryuk."

"**Why not let her see me then? I mean this means you're either going to keep or kill her anyway, right? And you don't want her to think you're crazy… whoops, probably too late for that…"**

"T-There's another…" _one of those _things_ there? And he's… Light is really… But how… why? _"B-But why? Why are you telling me this? I could have you arrested!"

Light just gave her a _look_ and it began to sink in. Light was KIRA… He could have her killed at any time… and not just her, _her parents_ had introduced themselves to him as well, if she made any moves against him…

"I like you Naomi Misora-san; you are easily the most capable woman I've ever met. I can't help but feel it was fate that I met you that day."

_It seems he's chosen to forgo mentioning the obvious for now… What... What am I going to do?_

"…and you've obviously worked for L in the past…"

"Then you know where my loyalties lie, so again, I ask why?"

"…but as what his agent? His partner?"

_Is that what you're getting at?_ "Just his shield. I know nothing about L or his identity, and I wouldn't tell _you _in any case. "

"That's fine. I truly admire your loyalty. That's why… I want you to work for me now."

"Did you not hear what I just said? You might as well kill me right now because I will never betray L."

"That you are loyal to L won't be a problem. After all, ultimately we want the same thing. We want Justice done."

_He wants to bring YOU to justice… Yes, Naomi, your choices boil down to defy Light… to defy KIRA, and endanger your family or obey the insane teenage with a God complex (who is also a very sweet and charming young man when he's not out murdering people, it's a shame really) let him have power over you, do whatever he wants… (_NO!_) for now and hope you live long enough to gather evidence and testify against him. I am no liking this, not at all._

He shrugged "Besides, you are currently doped up on painkillers," he waved a hand dismissively.

"There's no evidence. It's your word against mine."

_You smug bastard. Why am I always the one that ends up alone with the serial murderer?_

"…Why?" Naomi said in a small voice.

"You want Justice done too right? You said you wanted _him_ dead—that you would do anything to see _him_ dead."

"That was before I knew who you really were!"

"That hasn't changed. I am the same person..."

Light was interrupted by a choked sob. Naomi did not fail to note the outstretched hand and real look of concern.

_Raye, Kira… Light killed Raye. No Beyond. It was Beyond's fault… Beyond…_

"_Stop it! No More!"_

_And Beyond laughed at her cries, red eyes flashing with fiendish delight "Since your beau died early I'll just have to have more fun with you…"_

"_NO NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

_Mercy…_

…And now she was back THERE again! Back in the F.B.I. back in that warehouse, facing down a child-murderer again! Only this one apparently used a magical notebook instead of an automatic. And she was hesitating again. She couldn't do _that_, not again… And she hated herself for it.

_But this is different… _There was no gun aimed at her head. _If he wanted me dead, I would be dead…_

_Mercy…_

"I'm giving you a choice" Light said in a near whisper.

Naomi looked him right in the eye (_Such sad eyes… don't tell me a MONSTER like you, Kira, actually FEELS…_)

"Work for you or die, right?" Naomi began in a broken voice.

"Do you have such a death wish?" Naomi did not appreciate his morbid humor "You are no good to me dead. No your choices are reject my proposal and I can make it so you forget everything you just learned and return to your normal life and I will not touch you or your family, you have my word…"

"**Hyuk hyuk." **(It was background snickering Naomi couldn't hear.)

"Or work for me as… my partner."

"I don't want to forget."

"I will not make you do anything distasteful, I promise. Just be my eyes and ears."

"…But I am still loyal to L." Then this was the only way. To survive, to remember, to gather evidence so that perhaps one day they would both face their judgment…

Light smiled beatifically. "I told you, that won't be a problem. L is no true threat to me, not now. Won't you join me? Together we can save L and stop that monster from ever hurting anyone ever again!"

Light held out a pen and the page from the Death Note he had written in. "So what's your answer?"

Naomi put pen to paper and wrote Beyond Birthday in the blank.

Naomi did not miss that Light's eyes flashed an all-too-familiar red.

00000

**A/N:** _Sorry, short chapter._

_Oh it's going down now… Next up, showdown at the Yellow Box…_


	12. Requiem

A/N: _Death Note_ is still not mine.

Recommended Soundtrack: _A Question of Heaven_ by Iced Earth

00000

**Chapter 12 Requiem**

Matsuda paid no attention when the sun set ouside the hotel window, or when everyone else had gone home for the day. Light-kun and that F.B.I. lady had found a lead even if he was the only one who recognized it as such. Let the others make fun of him all they want. Tonight, he would prove that he wasn't just the coffee boy. Tonight, thanks to his and Light's heroics they would get L back and the Kira case could finally move forward. Matsuda had searched many locations named Yellow Box. Among them he had found a cosmetics company, a chain of shoe stores, and a gay bar… Matsuda doubted that any of these places would be a hang out for a ruthless serial killer (but then again you never know…)

Matsuda got so into his current task that he nearly jumped at the ringing of his phone.

"Oh, hey Light."

"Matsuda did you see that broadcast?"

"Broadcast?"

"It was him, the Wara Ningyo Killer. Rue Ryuuzaki." _B, Beyond Birthday… what an odd name,_ (thought the boy named Light "Night-God" as he spoke to the cop named "Peach" about finding the Detective known only as the 12th letter in the English alphabet.)"He hijacked the signal around five this morning."

_Morning?_ Matsuda blinked… had he really been at this all night?

"He murdered a girl on live TV."

"_Dude!_ But… why would he broadcast it then? I mean wouldn't most people be sleeping, working, or getting ready for work?"

_Because he knew Kira would be watching. I always write a few names, first thing in the morning, before I start the day._

"He was mocking both the police and Kira. Basically, thumbing his nose at everyone saying 'you can't touch me' he chose that time because he must have figured it would take a while before anyone would even notice it, adding insult to injury."

"Oh, I get it."

"Did you get a chance to look over that clue he sent?"

"Yeah, I'm doing that right now actually…"

"Anything come up that looks like derelict building or a warehouse?"

"A Warehouse. Oh wait, here it is. Daikoku Warf. It's abandoned…"

"Great, I'll meet you there."

"Wait… Light!" Matsuda shouted at the dial tone. _Shit._ _Light is so capable at this sort of thing_ _it's so easy to forget. He's not your boss… he's not even a police officer! He's a civilian, and a minor at that! Now if anything happens to Light..._ _Oh crap, the Chief's gonna kill me..._ Matsuda thought as he grabbed his coat and ran out the door. He had not given a second thought about Light working tirelessly on this case too. After all, he was well known to have a strong sense of justice, just like his father, and Matsuda remembered that Ryuuzaki had approached and befriended Light as part of the investigation._ Ryuuzaki. He must really mean a lot to him…_

00000

"**Why even bother going there?" **Ryuk asked as Light turned off his cell phone.

"This is an opponent that even gave L trouble. I have to confirm the kill, now don't I?"

"'**What happened to not throwing caution to the wind…?'"**

"Is that concern, Ryuk?"

"**As if. But you know? You really surprised me. I didn't expect you to do that with Misora."**

_Ryuk's quite chatty tonight. I suppose it's not that surprising, what with his playmate off haunting Misora._

"**It's obvious you aren't doing this because you like her..."**

"Oh and why is that?"

"**Simple. She isn't your type."**

"…and what would you know about my type, hmm?" Light muttered as he got on the train that would take him to the general vicinity of his destination. (And no one thought twice about a guy talking to himself on the subway.)

Ryuk ignored him and continued **"…so I want to know why. Why risk it?"**

"Is there a risk, Ryuk? Is there something you're not telling me?"

"**Do **_**you **_**even know?"**

"Ryuk, you saw what I wrote in the Death Note. And now Matsuda will be there. There is absolutely nothing to worry about."

"**This is all about L again, isn't it?**

"Well naturally, this will also allow me to know what to expect when it comes to dealing with L."

"**That's not what I was getting at. Misora is L's agent. That's the entire reason, isn't it? And that's another thing I don't get. Why bother to try and **_**save**_** L f you're just going to kill him later."**

Light's eyes took on a distinctive red glow, "I _will_ kill him later. But not even L deserves to go out like that."

"'**Not even L,' huh? Or is it because it's L? I think I'm beginning to get the picture here… You have a thing for him, don't you?"**

Light spluttered and nearly fell out of his seat. "What?"

"**Oh, it's okay Light. There's no need to be shy about it."**

"Ryuk I have no idea what you're talking about and in case you haven't noticed, I'm trying to get ready to storm the den of a serial killer. I have no time to listen to your crazy—"

"**It's not just me, Light. You know, it's obvious to everyone… Your family, your classmates, the police, random people walking down the street…"**

Light pointedly ignored him.

"**You asked me what I think your type is. It's obviously rude, obnoxious insomniac with poor hygiene and no table manners."**

There was much scowling and gritting of teeth. "…I have no attraction to him whatsoever."

"_**You**_** don't get to see the way you look at him…"**

"He's a guy."

"**So what? Zellogi and I…"**

"Ryuk, stop! I do NOT want to hear that!"

00000

**Earlier…**

Rem had been worried about startling the other prisoner. She supposed seeing one's fetters snap apart without any apparent outside force would be rather unnerving….. But the prisoner gave no indication that he even noticed continuing to stare at the wall. Not even when she pushed at him. How could she help him escape if he wouldn't help himself? Being stuck with this madman had no doubt broken his mind. _He's already as good as dead. _That's when Rem heard Misa screaming...

Blood dripped down Rem's face. Yes, Gods of Death can cry. She had failed. Misa was dead. He had removed his mask now, assuming he was safe—Rem could see his name. Beyond Birthday. The name went into Rem's Death Note.

40 seconds passed….

Beyond was still alive.

_No! How could this happen? Has someone else already written his name? Or worse, against all odds, did someone else write his name down at THE EXACT SAME TIME, meaning he was now immune to the Death Note? _

_Misa, I'm sorry, I couldn't even avenge you. _

All she could do now was try to grant Misa's dying wish. That she find a way to help Kira (Rem shuddered at the very thought) and that she help the other prisoner escape. Seeing that the man hadn't even budged, Rem saw she had her work cut out for her…

00000

"Lawli, I'm home!" Beyond called as he returned from his latest jam-run… only to find the blood-stained mattress was missing one L. The results were not pretty. Beyond howled and threw things, including the jam. The jars shattered and the jam splattered all over everything. This only served to further enrage the madman. Honestly, how could this day get any worse? "Now what did I tell Lawli about moving? Oh well I'll just have to blow up a country to show him I mean business. Let's see, now which one? Eenie, meenie, miney, moe…"

Beyond was about to remotely start Armageddon when he heard the sound of an engine cutting off outside…

00000

Light paid the taxi driver to stick around while he went snooping around an allegedly abandoned warehouse. As far as he could tell, from a cursory inspection there was only one entrance and one exit to the warehouse._ Well, that's problematic. _Light began to move along the perimeter searching for any possible alternate points of entry. Sure there was only one door, but there was enough time before Matsuda got here to whip up some low-grade explosives...

He did this unaware of the shadow getting closer behind him, spidery and looming, eyes gleaming red…

"**Light… Behind you!"**

"Gkk!" _Well, what do you know? It seems Ryuk actually does care._ _Unfortunately that's hardly enough warning to avoid a knife in the back… idiot._

"I do so hate being interrupted," snarled Beyond.

As this was happening Light saw the taxi driver speeding away out of the corner of his eye... _Model citizen, that._ _Note to self his name was Lee Hyun. My writing hand is itching..._

Beyond got a good look at his victim's face—that it was utterly fearless in the face of certain death—and what was NOT above his head.

"My, my, my… is that YOU little Kira I never expected you to come out to play yourself."

Light's only response was to cough up more blood. _Dammit, did he puncture a lung? ...Wait a minute. Kira...How?_

For a moment Light had a frightening vision that it was like that _other_ thing Ryuk had mentioned that somehow EVERYONE knew. That all of his secrets were out in the open and random people walking down the street somehow sensed that he was Kira but everyone was too polite (or rather too scared) to say anything.

_No… That settles it. He must have the Eyes. It's what Misora said about him knowing everyone's name and Zellogi, he let slip something about those who have the eyes can tell who is the owner of a notebook. Come to think of it Beyond and Misa… they mentioned something about eyes in that broadcast… Then does he have a notebook? Is it possible to have them without the notebook? Then why would he choose to kill in such a sloppy way? Still I have to be sure to search for one later._

"How odd, you don't seem too worried, all things considered," Beyond continued conversationally as he dragged Light into the warehouse, "But it's of no consequence. I knew I would be the one to find you first... And now I have you."

When Light didn't answer him, Beyond twisted the knife. Light stifled a cry. "I wonder do you enjoy being penetrated, Kira?"

Light's eyes widened. _Oh fuck no. THIS is him? THIS is the guy who had Misora, who has Ryuuzaki?_

Beyond was so caught up with his latest discovery that he missed the sound of the screeching warehouse door being opened for a second time…

"You're at my mercy now, little Kira… What will you do?" Beyond said in sing-song before ripping the knife from his back…. Then Light surprised him by getting up and punching him in the face. Beyond staggered a moment before returning with a knife-swipe to the gut. Light wavered but didn't fall.

"What? IMPOSSIBLE! It's you isn't it? Of course it would be Kira… You're the—"

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!

"GET AWAY FROM LIGHT-KUN!"

Beyond choked and cried as he collapsed in a heap on the ground. Matsuda stood protectively in front of Light, gun in hand, posture that of a feral beast.

"I'm okay, Matsuda. It's not nearly as bad as it looks. Just a scratch, really."

"**You know, you'd better write some name downs soon, Light-o."**

_Well, well. I was right. You ARE concerned for me Ryuk. Now THAT'S… interesting._

Matsuda insisted on seeing that yes, it was indeed just a scratch. He sighed with relief… before slapping Light. "What the hell were you thinking? And they call me the idiot!"

"Ow."

"I called your dad and the others. They're on they're way."

"That's good. Where's Ryuuzaki? Did you find Ryuuzaki?"

"No, not yet."

Light took off running,

"Hey! Light!"

Then Matsuda noticed Beyond was still trying to get back up, straining for the knife as his blood seeped out of him, mixing with the jam and broken glass on the ground.

Matsuda didn't waste any time shoving the gun in Beyond's face.

"Heh heh heh. End of the World. See you soon, A, and I'll see _you_ in hell."

BANG

Matsuda couldn't believe he just did that. He just stood there, shuddering until Light put a comforting hand on his shoulder. He had scared himself… but he didn't feel that sorry about it though, all things considered...

"A?"

_A.. a letter. Like L maybe?_ Light hated having the feeling he had missed something. Somehow even Beyond's corpse had a smug look to it, an I-know-something-you-don't-know. "Who knows … he was a nutcase." _The joke's on him, anyway. There is no afterlife. I have that on very good authority._

Anyway he was dead now. Nothing more to worry about. It had all gone off Just As Planned as he had written in the Death Note. "Beyond Birthday does no further permanent harm to his hostage(s) and is shot to death when the police arrive."

"Come on, Ryuuzaki has got to be around here somewhere…"

00000

They found him wandering the streets, sometime later.

"Ryuuzaki!" They called out in unison.

The man broke out into a run. Light and Matsuda gave chase. When he stumbled and fell Light was there to catch him.

"Hey, Ryuuzaki?"

He was shaking, eyes stared wider than normal. L looked up at Light, clearly confused.

"Who are you?"

00000

**A/N: **_Thus concludes the first arc (not the end though, I promise)._

_MATSUDA SMASH!_

_"D'aaw look at this ones asleeps in some blood!" and so ends the saga of Beyond (maybe… unless I feel like breaking the rules and bringing him back. (I honestly have no clue))._

_Perhaps that also shed some light (heh heh) on the nature of the "deal…" what it (really) is will be explored… later. Though for now the hints are dropped._

_Up next…_

_L has… AMNESIA! Light is annoyed (the sky is blue), and what does Naomi think of all this? Not to mention Rem, Matsuda, Mr. Yagami, et al. And nobody's touched L's computer in a while now have they? So expect a terrible trio to make their triumphant debut (or something)..._


	13. Apprentice

A/N: I am not the owner of _Death Note_… And I'm not Kira.

Recommended Soundtrack: _Prince Charming _by Metallica

00000

**Chapter 13 Apprentice**

Mr. Yagami was less than pleased to learn (the censored version) of his son's latest activities. He should be home studying not staying out all night playing detective again! So, naturally there was a row when they got home…

"…but dad!"

"I don't want to hear it!" Souichiro spluttered and pointed "GO TO YOUR ROOM!"

_Seriously? You're grounding ME? …What am I five? _Light just shrugged and went up to his room, (somehow _still _managing to walk out with an air of dignity and grace.)

Souichiro collapsed into his chair, shoulders sagging. _That kid is going to be the death of me. What the hell is happening to Light? First that incident at the mall and now THIS? He used to be such a good kid… Walking alone into the den of a known serial killer, he's smarter than that! Perhaps Sachiko is right, perhaps this is a cry for attention._

"Souichiro… talk to your son," she had said. "He has all that brilliance and no outlet for it. And lately he's been spending so much time locked up in his room. Honestly, Souichiro I worry for him…. There's this… and just yesterday there was that horribleness at the mall. He has yet to talk to me about it…"

_I've just been so busy with the Kira case lately I haven't had time for them. _Souichiro sighed. _At least he can't get up to any trouble, up in his room…_

00000

"**Are you trying to beat your own personal record Light? Seriously, what are you trying to prove?"**

Light shook out the cramp in his hand. Another thousand evil-doers put to death. "I'm spacing them out over the next three weeks. I've got the entrance exams coming up, plus I want to make sure I'm covered until my contingencies are solidly in place...

"**Contingencies?"**

"Just because _L_" _isn't any fun anymore_ "is out of the picture there's no reason for me to relax my guard. B was obviously L's apprentice and he mentioned another… I don't like to think about it, but there could be a whole alphabet of "L"s out there."

"**Hyuk Hyuk Hyuk! Oh man, that would suck for you, wouldn't it Light?"**

"…on top of that with L out of the way, I may be asked to join the Taskforce…. So I have to be prepared. Though I imagine out of all of them, convincing Dad is going to be the toughest..."

00000

"It's true then, we've recovered Ryuuzaki?" Mogi asked as he came in.

"It was Matsuda... and the Chief's son," Sanami informed him.

Matsuda put his hand behind his head and looking extremely sheepish. "It was mostly Light. He solved it… We found him wandering the streets, and… he didn't even recognize us."

As Mr. Yagami came down the hall he overheard the remaining taskforce members already discussing the matter at hand outside of L's hospital room. L was sedated for now, hooked up to machines keeping him alive. It was just another mystery… How did Ryuuzki escape his captor let alone stagger away with _those_ wounds?

"I heard the doctor we brought in, he mentioned it being like a kind of fugue state…"

"Fugue?" said Matsuda.

"Sometimes victims of significant trauma…" Sanami began "it's like their mind shuts down and they dissociate what's happening around them. They often leave their old lives and take on a new identity…"

"Diagnosing that one would be tough, all things considered…" Mogi offered gruffly. "Is it curable?"

"…I don't know. The doctor said that sometimes these things last for a few days sometimes a few years, sometimes they never recover…"

"What are we going to do without…?" Matsuda began. The chief cleared his throat. "Oh hey, Chief."

"Mental state aside, his wounds are septic…" Sanami continued.

"Then if Light hadn't found him…" Matsuda began.

"…We never would have recovered him in time. He would have died." Mogi nodded in agreement.

A solemn air fell over the Taskforce.

"But what are we going to do? We need... L…uh… Ryuuzaki." Matsuda swapped the last word upon seeing a warning glare from the Chief.

"You're right," The Chief sighed. "We can't let anyone know about Ryuuzaki… It would cause widespread panic, and they would make us stop working the case."

"But it would take a… genius to solve this case…." Mogi supplied.

"What about Light?" asked Matsuda.

"Absolutely not!"

"But Chief, come on!"

"He's old enough to begin an apprenticeship at any rate..." Mogi agreed.

"…and it's what he wants to do, right?"

"I'm sorry to bring this up…" Sanami was weary of getting in the way of her colleague's enthusiasm but… "But wasn't he Ryuuzaki's top SUPSECT?"

"Yeah I know but really would Kira work tirelessly to save L?"

"Matsuda," the Chief warned him again, they were in a public setting after all.

_And would KIRA look so terrified by a simple thug if he could just magically make his heart explode? _Mogi silently agreed. "I'm for it. On this matter, I believe that Ryuuzaki was wrong."

Souichiro had hoped to keep him safe, to not expose him to this crap, at least for another five to ten years, and then he remembered his discussion with his wife. That Light has no outlet for his brilliance…

The Chief sighed, defeated. "If he agrees I guess I really have no reason to keep him from joining the Taskforce."

00000

Naomi was bored, the hours ticking away before they would release her from the hospital. You would think that being watched by a God of Death who seemed to be Kira's pet would add sense of danger to the mix but sadly this was not the case…

"_This is Zellogi. He's a Shinigami. I know he might look scary but he's mostly harmless, really. He'll be following you. No one else can see or hear him. Just think of him as a not-so-silent guardian. He likes soft things, so you can bribe him to do things for you. Which is handy because he can fly and move through walls. If you need to talk to him while out in public, don't make it obvious just whisper..._

"_Or pretend to be talking on my cell phone?"_

"_Say, that's a good idea!"_

_Naomi sweat-dropped. THIS was the criminal mastermind that had so far stumped L?_

Zellogi, a.k.a. Chief Linus the Shinigami was just lounging in the room's other unoccupied bed, tightly holding his blankie with his good hand. Cooing about it, singing to it… _No wonder Kira is insane._ Naomi thought after about an hour of Shinigami observations.

"_If you so wish; you can make a deal with him to gain the eyes of the Shinigami. You'd be able to know everyone's name just by looking at them."_

_Know everyone's name… like Beyond did. I wonder if that's what drove Beyond batshit…_

"_Do you have them? Did YOU make the deal?"_

"_No."_

"_Why not?" Why WOULDN'T Kira want that power?_

"_It costs half of your remaining lifespan."_

…_that's why. "You expect me to do that when you won't even consider it yourself? Hell no. What do you say to that, huh?"_

"_You obviously aren't doing this out of fear, which means that either you're going along with my proposal because you actually want to or you hope to arrest me. Either way should prove interesting."_

"_You were just testing me?"_

"_Yes, you passed by the way. Here's another one. Misa Amane had to have been an owner of a notebook. I need you to retrieve her notebook before anyone else can get to it. If you do this for me you will have proven your loyalty and thus gained my trust." _

The smug egomaniac was absolutely convinced that she would side with him. He had even given her a page from the notebook "In case of emergencies." _How careless, I could just write your name down._

She could (_I should_) but she didn't want to…. _Dammit, Light._ _Why can't I… Why can't I hate you?_ _I have every reason to…_

Naomi brought herself out of the trance she had gone into, staring at that folded up square of paper currently residing in the palm of her hand.

She lay back in the hospital bed and watched the ceiling instead. She had to admit, she was looking forward to this mission itself... She would find Misa's notebook… and turn it in to the F.B.I. as evidence against Kira, damn the consequences… what happened after that wasn't her problem…

But then there was Zellogi, always watching her…. _"If you betray me, I will know."_

_It obeyed his commands… the Shinigami must be loyal to him. How the hell are you supposed to stop someone like that? Who had GODS at his command?_

Naomi knew that she would have to tread carefully if she wanted her life back.

"**This is boring!"** announced the Shinigami.

"I know."

"**Then why don't you do something?"**

"Like what? What do you see to do here?"

"**TV?"**

Naomi sighed she had it off because listening to the Shinigami was headache enough but if it kept him quiet...it was the lesser of two evils. "Fine." Naomi grabbed the remote and turned on the TV…

"In other words all of the reporters and staff here at NHN are Blue Ship's hostages. As you can see, they have already killed three of our staff members here. They have a list of the following demands…"

"No way!"

Naomi attempted to turn up the volume but, unused to this remote, accidently changed the channel instead….

…and then the fat face of Sakura TV's Hitoshi Demegawa filled the screen. "…Blue Ship is an Eco-Terrorist Organization with cell blocks all over the world. We here at Sakura TV have discovered the identities of three of these terrorists. They are Lars Habaku, Tetsu Tadashi, and Mortimer Lyall; all of them have multiple priors. I would just like to point out that these are all recent photos and the names are indeed spelled correctly. Now let us pray for the quick recovery of our fellow newsmen."

Zellogi cackled.

Naomi looked down horrified to see that she had put pen to paper.

_OH SHIT!_

The pen fell from her hands.

_What did I just do?_

There was no avoiding it now. She had killed three people. They'd die of heart attacks in 40 seconds… The police in riot gear rushed in. The hostages were rushed out…

"All heart attacks?"

"It was Kira!"

Naomi put her head in her hands.

""Kira-sama! Kira-sama! Thank you Kira-sama!"

"He had a gun to my head and then he just collapsed!"

"Struck down by Lord Kira!"

"…this is Divine Punishment!"

"…the remaining hostages appear to be alive and unharmed."

Naomi looked up from her hands….

"…In other news this man is threatening to blow up an orphanage…"

"Help us! Please, SOMEONE!"

"…the victims were still alive when the perpetrators doused them with gasoline…"

"…serial rapist on the loose…"

After a minute Naomi bent over and picked up the pen in one hand, the remote in the other, the Shinigami snickering all the while...

00000

**A/N:** You know they say TV will rot your brain—especially if combined with an Artifact of Doom…


	14. Chapter 14

**NOTICE**

I apologize in advance for spamming and I apologize to everyone who thought they were getting an update. I usually don't do the whole author note chapter thing but I thought it was the best way to get the word out before my account gets deleted.

After ten years of no enforcement fanfiction . net is suddenly going to start enforcing a "no sex and violence" policy:  
www . change petitions / fanfiction – net – stop – the – destruction – of – fanfiction – net ? utm_campaign =friend _ inviter _ modal & utm_medium = facebook&utm _ source = share_petition

I'm here frequently on fanfiction . net but I only just heard about this, so I figured it was important to get the word out.

I checked and the only warning on fanfiction . net I could see was a single note on fanfiction . net's homepage:  
"June 4th 2012 - Notices: ◦Please note we would like to clarify the content policy we have in place since 2002. follows the Fiction Rating system ranging from Fiction K to Fiction M. Although Fiction Ratings goes up to Fiction MA, since 2002 has not allowed Fiction MA rated content which can contain adult/explicit content on the site. only accepts content in the Fiction K through Fiction M range. Fiction M can contain adult language, themes and suggestions. Detailed descriptions of physical interaction of sexual or violent nature is considered Fiction MA and has not been allowed on the site since 2002."

I know I don't exactly comb through mine for content and just rate it all M. But no doubt the vague descriptions of gay sex within these stories will offend the moral guardians.

Though I have to wonder what's left after you delete all the stories with sex and violence. There goes the Death Note fandom! And what about a fandom like... Saw?

If you don't think this applies to you then ask yourself, does your story:

Have action scenes?

Have romance scenes?

Mention a song?

**If you answered yes to any of those it is at risk of deletion.**

Or to put it another way would your story make a good episode of Sesame Street?

If yes you're probably safe but if no you may want to consider copying it over to another site.

Even if you don't think this applies to you it's still a good idea to have backups and considering they're going to suddenly start cracking down now after ten years of nothing they may be overzealous in their censorship. It would be a shame if a beautiful story is lost forever just because it says a naughty word.

So please move your stuff, copy your favorites before this goes into effect!

Some suggested sites:

livejournal . com

archiveofourown . org

deviantart . com

adultfanfiction . net

As for me, I will continue to write and update my stories—just not on fanfiction . net.

You can find me on Livejournal and archiveofourown. org as reaperlight and plannedbyreaperLight on deviantart . com

I would like to thank everyone, all of my readers and reviewers, for all their help and support and all the other writers out there keep on writing awesome stories!


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